By: Marissa McAfee
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.
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.
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
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.
Materials Used: string, canvas, acrylic paint, picture frame backing
Oh, I also baked a bonus weaving this week and wove the lattice of a pie!
