Jennifer DeLuna Final Weaving

Intention:

When I began this project, I did not envision an end product, the only things I knew for certain were the color schemes and the materials I was going to use as I had already purchased them. I had mostly neutral colors and varying textured yarns. I was interested in conveying these textures and the nuances between the colors of the materials I got. When working on my sample weaving, I most enjoyed the dense packing in the horizontal stripes in the middle of the piece and I carried that onto my final weavings.

It was after I finished the sample weaving, that I realized how much I enjoyed weaving and I just began to weave. I didn’t realize this weaving project had been due, as I confused it with the final project we had to do. So when I started this, I was not envisioning anything in particular. I just wanted to weave.

 

Process:

The yarns in the weaving were  made from differing materials, from acrylic to cotton to wool. Braided rope, plastic bags and copper wire  were also used in the weaving.

I primarily used plain weave throughout both of my pieces. I alternated with different yarns to create patterns throughout the weave. I also used varying amounts of floating wefts, rya knots and soumak weave. I kept the color schemes coherent and muted to emphasize the textures of the materials. This can be most seen in my white colored weaving.  

I did not have a rough sketch of the weaving, I mostly made decisions as I weaved, relying on what I did before to inform what I did next. I was experimenting with different ways to create variance within the horizontal stripes. I also added shapes of color or rya knots in order to break up the monotony in parts of the larger weaving. In the white weaving, I kept to the horizontal stripes, as the size of it would not lend itself well to the small breaks in the horizontal lines. The white weaving, despite being shades of white and off white, had small pockets of blue under the rya knots. I wanted them to be fully hidden, only to be seen if one got up close and inspected the weaving. This want for close examination was also in the larger weaving. Certain colors in the weaving, like the dark black looking colors, many of the whites, or the pinks were at least two different colors. However, because they were weaved so close to each other or alternated, it was hard to see unless one inspected the weaving.

 

Learning:

Through critique, I learned that people related the colors and design to something human like in terms of the differing textures and colors of the human body. I also believe that my color scheme was successful in that it looked natural and muted,  as well as that people enjoyed it.

For my next weavings, I’d want to experiment more with the form the weaving takes once it is off the loom. I’ve learned that the copper wire in the weaving allows for a manipulation in its form and I would like to build off of that.