62-150A: Introduction to Textile Media
Section A of Media Synthesis & Analysis – Fall 2020
For my weaving I decided to play around with some different ways of warping my (unneccarrly large) embroidery hoop. When the warp started taking on the interresting pattern (seen in the second picture) I decided to go with it, expecting to make a few flowers out of cloth based (strips that I sewed together) off what I saw of others experrimentations. The shape kept on changing until I found it merging into a heart, a shap I tried to reinforce as I wove.
I have been really just experimenting with all of the weft techniques I saw on the glossary- trying vertical lines, diagonal lines, the Swedish knot, rya knots, leno, and interlocking normal weave. What ties the whole thing together right now is just the colors I have been using. I like the Swedish knot because it makes the yarn pop out more, and introduce more texture and dimension. I also thought it was fun to do the leno weave.
I did spend a lot of time just figuring out what to do next to keep a good composition, so I have spent around 6-7 hours on this so far. There have been times when I make slits and they get too big, so I have to bring it back together with a base of normal weave next, or when I did the leno and I had to try to make the spacing of the warp even again.
This took me about 5 hours to complete. I am trying to play around with geometric shapes and creating those by using different techniques (i.e. regular/ irregular group dovetails and interlocking).
For the first few inches of the weaving, I chose to explore different geometric patterns. I also experimented with leaving empty spaces. I spent about 4.5 hours, with the pile (rya knots) being the most time consuming.
I chose to do a tapestry of Bilbo Baggins’ house from The Lord of The Rings because of the very homey feel that particular setting has, which made me think that creating a tapestry of it would be appropriate since a tapestry is an old form of art as well as something that can be done in the home. This took me about 5 hours to do.
Here is the picture reference.
Here is my work so far. I used several interlocked wefts to create the stairs and surrounding greenery.
This has been a really fun process so far! Getting a gauge of how round the shapes turn out is a bit difficult, so planning for certain layers has been difficult, but it’s still been rewarding. The rya knots have been fun and I’m definitely going to experiment with them more as I go down the tapestry.
For my tapestry weaving I am trying to make Scotty. I found it a bit challenging to work with multiple colors at once, especially colors in the middle, but I like the way that it has turned out so far. It is also a bit difficult when you run out of weft and have to start integrating a new piece because the old piece often sticks out still as can be seen in some spots above.
My mind has still been focused on repurposing materials for creating textile based artwork, and I remembered this particular piece from a museum visit I took a few years ago.
El Anatsui is a Ghanaian artist who uses found materials such as bottle caps, recycled aluminum commercial packaging, and copper wire, and to fabricate giant shimmering sheets that he calls “cloths.” These cloths are incredible to see in person, and they command the space in the room. They appear both sturdy and soft, and the pliability of the materials used enable the cloths to change how they appear with each new installation in galleries.
I love that his work is bold and contemporary but still firmly anchored his traditional culture. As a modern artist, El Anatsui still recalls 1,000-year-old traditions of strip-woven cloth made by the men in West Africa. An image of Ghanaian kente cloth for reference is displayed below. This particular metal cloth “Taago” feels comforting like a blanket, and the dips and folds create a very interesting pattern of movement that I enjoy. I also appreciate the way he carefully chose his materials for their “usefulness” and value.
For this assignment, I was inspired by the many small artists on social media who have been using the internet to share their extremely creative and original textile art! It’s really inspiring to see what these creators make, and it makes me wish I could sew and embroider(which is why I am super excited for the rest of this class).
For a specific artist, I chose the instagram user @4×1111, who makes custom wearable art.
These are only a few examples, but they have made many custom sweaters in this way. I honestly don’t even have a guess for how they are made, but they’re super cool and sell out almost instantly when drops happen. This is also only one example of the cool small artists on Instagram/Depop, there are so many more! Link to their instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/4×1111/
The piece I chose was the “Madonna” cape and gown by Riccardo Tisci, which he made for a statue of the Madonna for a local church in Puglia, Italy. The couture cape is made from silk crafted in the Como area of Italy, and the overall piece includes golden embroidery, which took 3000 hours to stitch, as well as 500 svarovski crytals hand-sewn into the cloth. I chose this piece because it immediately caught my attention when I saw it in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC in 2018, as part of an exhibit featuring Christianity-inspired couture pieces. It has incredible attention to detail as well as vivid colors that stand out and give off a sense of regality.
