2008 Weave of the week #5: Abstract jacquard August 30, 2008

To me this swatch of vintage French woolen jacquard looks more like an abstract painting than like a textile. It was woven with fine wool set tightly (approximately 50 epi x 50 ppi), so that the tightness of the structure accentuates the colors and sharp angles between the fabric’s warp- and weft-faced satin weaves.
The [...]

2008 Weave of the week #4: Sakiori mat August 24, 2008

This small, tightly woven mat from Japan has rag wefts made from recycled cotton textiles, a technique called Sakiori (“tear and weave”). I have seen jackets, vests, and obis woven with this technique, sometimes using recycled kimono silk, but I especially love the irregularity and unselfconscious imperfection (I think the Japanese call it shibui) of [...]

Exhibition alerts for NY’s flightiest: featherwork, superheroes, balloon sculpture August 22, 2008

“Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru” is a special exhibition (open only through Sept. 1) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I haven’t seen the exhibition yet, but the other exhibitions of Andean featherwork that I have seen, and the spectacular images on the Met’s website, suggest that it will [...]

Overshot too August 17, 2008

2008 Weave of the week #3: Overshot August 17, 2008

As I mentioned in writing “First Steps,” I was deeply affected by a photo of a North Carolina weaver who was holding up an overshot coverlet that she had woven. Overshot is one of several types of woven designs that were brought to America by settlers from all over Europe. There are hundreds of overshot [...]

“Woven Splendor …” August 13, 2008

“Woven Splendor From Timbuktu to Tibet: Exotic Rugs and Textiles from New York Collectors,” and “Allure of the East: Orientalism in New York, 1850-1930,” are companion exhibitions that will be at the New-York Historical Society only until this Sunday, August 17. If you want more information (and have a broadband connection), go to: http://www.nyhistory.org, or [...]