The Artwork I that I came across, that interested me the most, was this piece by Vanessa Barragáo. She is a Brazilian artist who was commission to do a piece for Heathrow Airport. I thought this piece was interesting because of the variety of methods she used to get different textures, and different levels to create her interpretation of the world. She used techniques including latch hooking, felt needling, carving, and crocheting to get textural difference but also to discern the different aspects of her piece. For example she crochet ridges to represent South American and Asian rain forests while using yarn to represent the deserts in Australia and Africa. My favorite aspect of this piece is her choice of colors and how she places them next to each other.Looking at how she represents the ocean, she uses multiple shades of blue that are cool but at times have purple undertones, and when put together actually does remind you of the different blues of the oceans in the world, some are darker, brighter, cooler and she is able to include that in her piece.
Taken from the artist’s description, “The Divide” is an expression of the duality of light and dark, and how one cannot exist without the other. It is a manifestation of the artist’s self expectations for the future, and the burden of having self doubts. The piece also symbolizes the artists’ love for the ocean. While the irregular hand-knotted chains represent those that ground us and the interconnectedness of those relationships, the crack appears as an “opportunity to let the goodness of humanity shining through.”
The artist mentioned above is Kass Hernandez, who partners with her sister Lauren Hernandez. They are Australian-Filipinos whose parents raises them in the southwestern suburbs of Sydney. Crossing Threads is a business they started so they could create one-of-a-kind fiber art together. They aim to use only natural fibers in their art— including merino wool, alpaca, bamboo, silk, and linen in order to tread lighter on the environment. They also feature upcycled denim and upholstery. Much of Crossing Threads’ inspiration comes from the Australian landscape, especially the color palette inspired by beaches, gum trees, and the ocean.
The Divide close-up (1).The Divide close-up (2).
I chose this piece because it changed my ideas of what weaving could be. It was almost the start of my realization of weaving as art. Before I saw this piece, my impression of weaving was that it was mostly functional, and fabric could be made out of it. This piece blew me away by how impressively textural it was. From far away, it seems like a pretty tame blend of blue into off-white, but as you look closer you can notice the details all blending together into one cohesive piece. For example, in the blue section alone you can find strips of blue plaid, denim, different yarns, and fabrics that aren’t even blue. I love the cohesiveness of the piece at first glance, before I am able to discover all the rich detail in it.
” The Divide” was created using the artist’s signature ‘interknot’ technique, made up of weaving hand-knotted chains of various texture and thicknesses which graduate to a relief.
“There are no more doubts in this carpet, destroying the geometric intelligible boundaries of the patterns – overflowing they geal on the floor – this is the limit of doubts.”
I am very intrigued by this rug by Faig Ahmed that shows a traditional-looking rug transform into a puddle of its colors. I find it incredibly dynamic and playful. When you look at it at first you think it is just your conventional rug, but then it turns out to be something unexpected.
It is also interesting to see their process, in the the third photo, to see the loom they are working on as well as a pattern reference to keep track of their work.
I was really drawn to this installation called Coral: Fabric of the Reef by Karen Dodd for a number of reasons. For one, I love marine life and I love art that mimics marine life, especially coral. The way she used different textiles to represent the unique textures of the coral is mesmerizing and the colors are beautiful.
A Stitch in Time
This coral in particular is my favorite out of the installation. I love how you can see the intricate details and the juxtaposition of the thick and thin fabrics to mimic the textures found in corals. I couldn’t find specific information about how Karen Dodd made these works but they are truly stunning.
I chose this piece of work because I was intrigued to learn of textile artwork that was made to be worn and moved in. Nick Cave creates what are called “Soundsuits” intended to produce sound when moved in and worn by dancers. Because of this, all of his pieces are sewn together and also include recycled materials.
Speak Louder consists of seven Soundsuits connected by one large cloak of buttons depicts tuba like people who’s horns have been silenced. This piece of work is conveys a message of strong communities while acknowledging losses together in the fight for a better future. Because each Soundsuit is facing different directions, there is a unique attributes of the separate entities while still maintaining unity much like the real world.
I chose this piece because I loved how it displays crocheting on such a large scale that we don’t usually think of when considering textiles. I loved the contrast of the way it looked at night and during the day, and how people could become part of the art by standing within it.
This piece was created for the i Light Marina Bay Festival, a sustainability focused event. The designs for the crochet and support took 2 and a half months, and the actual process of crocheting took another 2 and a half months, with the help of 50 people across the world.
For my first weaving, I decided to use two scarves – one my mother gave me, and one my father gave me. I enjoyed thinking about the origin of the objects I own, and based off of that I eventually built the piece up to consist of many objects that are common and everyday, but that I need a lot in life. Those include: an iPhone charger, my painters tape, label maker, and post it notes.
For the next pieces, I wanted to use my new weaving skills to add some cool decor to my apartment. I asked my roommate if I could use her record box and add a simple weaving to it for a pop of color. I also used a skull I recently 3D printed, and added some color through weaving as well. The skull piece turned out interesting to me because the weaving kind of looks like a bandage.
The first weaving I attempted was inspired by the idea of natural vs synthetic. As I started the process I wanted the synthetic/plastic materials to look like they were choking the plastic. One surprise was how many methods I had to try in order to use the natural items, that ended up being my biggest challenge. The biggest challenge I had was manipulating the natural items in order to weave it through, whether that was bending them beforehand, tying them together or folding them. I think I did get the look of nature not having room to flourish because of the presence of synthetic materials and I was also able to play around with the materials at the same time, fo example I used bottle caps to put the stems of leaves together and I used a chopstick wrapper to tie around a leaf.
Materials
pre-bloomed flowers
leaves
loose branches
plastic water jug
chopstick wrapper
plastic bags
dead/loose plat stems
dead plant
roots brown paper bag
weeds
The second weaving attempt was intended to be more traditional with the use of paper. There were some elements I tried to explore like using quotes regarding misogyny in Hip-Hop but unfortunately they did not make the final piece. The intended effect of this project was to emphasize the clash in hip hop, specifically rap, between artists. The rap industry has notoriously welcomed and celebrated vulgar and hyper-sexualized messages from male artists but then have also turned around to chastise female artists who have done the same. A challenge and a surprise was trying very hard to not be confused by the weavings. There are about 3 layers of weavings and I got lost a few times because it was more than just one weaving I was trying to do correctly. A discovery that I made was that I needed more materials for how ambitious I wanted to be. I believe the use of so much paper was making it very flat and one dimensional, that is why instead of using paper as a border I tries to crochet one that wasn’t uniform. And is also why I attempted to weave the outline of the female genitalia through the entire project upon. A success I had was getting some of the more vulgar words to stick out, however I wish I did more of bolding them and increasing the font size so that those words could be seen more.
I initially struggled with deciding how to begin this deeper dive because I had a bunch of undeveloped exciting ideas running rampant after completing my smaller explorative pieces. I decided to take a walk to clear my head to try to flesh out some of my ideas, and I ended up picking flowers along the way. As I admired the colors and shapes of the flowers, the concept for my first weaving bloomed.
I decided to craft a loom out of branches using string to tie the frame. I knew that I wanted to use the different flowers I picked as the weft, so my next challenge was finding a suitable warp.
Tree branch loom with dead grass warp fastened together with string and packing tape
I came across a pile of dead fibrous husks that marked the remnants of a grassy bush, and I decided to use these as the warp because as a material they provided the right amount of rigidity for weaving delicate flowers. The sticks were light enough to secure to the loom with packing tape.
Conceptually, I loved the idea of weaving the living and dead plants together. They were complementary opposites. The warp is hard, brittle, and dead while the weft is soft, flexible, and colorful. There’s a duality in the materials, and I needed both to complete the weaving.
Marissa McAfee, The Fates, 14 Sep 2020. Mixed Media
The warp ended up working extremely well, and I love how it acts as a skeleton providing support for the weaving. The lush and living weft fit snugly through the dry bone framework, but I did encounter challenges with the fragility of the flowers. I had to adapt to the different stem and leaf types and learn when to be gentle and when to be more forceful. The evolution of this piece was something unexpected. I took steps back and decided to add more layers of textures to create depth. The inchworm that I found on one of the purple flowers was also something unexpected!
**Side note: I’ve also decided to photograph this weaving daily to capture its gradual decay. I’m hoping it’s able to communicate an even deeper message when everything has turned dry and ghostly 🙂
Materials Used: flowers, branches, dead grass sticks, string, packing tape
Decay over a week
Mortality
Inspiration for my second piece came from wanting to combine my painting experience with the new weaving techniques I’ve been exploring. I wanted to create something unlike anything I’ve ever done before, and this piece really took me out of my comfort zone.
For my weft material, I painted a self-portrait on a scrap piece of canvas I found behind my desk. I used the backing of a frame left behind in my apartment as the loom. I struggled with deciding what to use as my warp material because I wasn’t quite sure what features I wanted to emphasize in the portrait. I initially wanted to use paintbrushes as the warp, but the size wasn’t right, and I didn’t have enough. I settled for string and wrapped the frame, but then I decided to rotate the canvas so that it was a more interesting diamond shape. Satisfied with this composition, I began the painting and deconstructing process.
I had never painted a self-portrait before, and I found it difficult. I was able to let go of my fears and hesitations and work through it, however, because I knew I was going to cut it into wefting strips. I was no longer afraid of “messing up.” Creating and then separating a representation of myself was a surprising and interesting process.
I was pleasantly surprised by the result because I never fully knew what to expect from the finished weaving. I didn’t really have a clear end goal for this project, but I’m really happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone to complete it. I’m excited to grow and further challenge myself as an artist.
Marissa McAfee, Dissociation, 14 Sep 2020. Mixed Media
For this week’s assignment, I focused on experimenting with different wefting materials, as well as creating a theme around those wefted materials on a larger piece: a broken chair.
Below is the chair I used. Under the seat of the chair, the horizontal middle bars are dislodged from the right bar, leaving a gap.
I decided to create a weaving that not only filled in the space between the two middle bars, but also filled in the space between the dislodged middle bars and the right bar. Thus, with my weaving, I ended up “fixing” the chair. I used twine for warping, and below are pictures of the warped twine in the 2 spaces before I wefted using multiple materials.
After warping, I decided to select my wefting materials around a single theme: memories. Out of all possible wefting materials I had, I selected the ones that represented particular memories in my life, both big and small. The materials representing significant memories were a ribbon from a dress I wore to school on my birthday in 9th grade and some paper strips cut out of a paper bag that I’d gotten when I shopped at the gift store during my last visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. The materials representing less important memories were a green belt from a skirt that I wore during my first trip to the grocery store after Coronavirus hit, as well as some floss from my last visit to the dentist. I selected these memorable materials because I wanted to use my weavings to transform the old, broken chair into something that was more personal and had a human touch. Below are images of the final result:
This week’s assignment was more challenging than last week’s assignment because I had to be much more creative with the materials I used for wefting (last week I just used cloth, twine, and thread). Additionally, I was not only creating one warped loom, but creating two warped looms intersecting with one another over a large surface, and I was having to warp over a surface with uneven heights as well (the bars went from skinny to thick to skinny again), so I had to get creative with how I warped. I ended up dividing the horizontal space between the bars into three warped sections and the vertical space was kept as one warped section.
