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Exhibition: Nature in the Making

27 October 2016 Exhibitions / General / New weave developments / News
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a3postersleedoornwevers

Nature in the Making is a joint exhibition taking place in Galerie de Sleedoorn, Hendrik Piersonstraat, 11b, 6671 CK, Zetten, Netherlands.

Dates: 4 – 27 November 2016

Weavers Stacey Harvey-Brown and Agnes Hauptli weave artworks based around geology and roadtrips in the US and New Zealand. Both are drawn to the same inspiration – rocks, erosion, lichen, canyons, caverns, and gorges – but they have very different means of expression.

Hauptli’s work is steeped in colour – intense hues, dramatic colourplay, visual movement and delivered through both pictorial (jacquard) and organic lines in shaft weaving.

Harvey-Brown focuses on texture – surface texture and three-dimensional through the use of structural weaving techniques and different qualities of shrinkage.

The two different styles lead to an interesting exhibition, each time bringing in new work and intriguing audiences. This is its second appearance in Europe, having been shown in Switzerland, and previously in two venues in New Zealand and two in the US.

Both artists will be present at the gallery, and Harvey-Brown will be demonstrating the weaving process throughout the exhibition.
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Jacquard Ribbon Loom Restoration: Emma Wood

6 October 2016 Company Profile / Events / Exhibitions / General / New weave developments / News / Workshops
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Image 1a

An exciting new project has begun at the German Museum of Technology (Deutsches Technikmuseum) in Berlin, focused on the repair and restoration of their star Jacquard. The photograph of the loom (above) is prior to restoration

The project is being undertaken by Berlin-based British weaver Emma Wood, along with Birgit Zehlike & Nael Alkhteb of Oranienburg, and will run until November 2016. The restoration is taking place in the main hall of the museum, and is open for all visitors to watch.

Emma Wood will be reporting for The Weave Shed on the restoration of a jacquard loom in Berlin in a series of posts during her residency.

This particular Jacquard was built in the 1920s in Germany, and it arrived at the museum in around 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The loom is designed for weaving ribbons, and it has two Jacquard mechanisms, each one being capable of producing 9 ribbons simultaneously. Sadly the loom has fallen into a state of disrepair after roughly a decade of non-use, but this restoration project provides a rare opportunity to get up-close and personal with such a specialised loom.

First Days
The first days of the restoration involved doing an overall analysis of the loom, and getting to grips with how it works.  The Jacquard mechanisms are operated by punchcards, and the warp threads are spread across individual spools, instead of warp beams.  These spools are then weighted to set the tension.

Emma wood 2

Beginning the analysis at the top of the loom, it became clear to the team that a piece from the left Jacquard mechanism was missing, which would help rotate the punchcards evenly.  It was also obvious that a large number of the punchcards were damaged, most likely from water damage and humidity.  The damaged punchcards offer an exciting opportunity to experiment with new techniques and materials, and to use some of the latest technology to create cards that are both precise and long-lasting.

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The remaining bulk of the work over the first days has been focused on thoroughly cleaning the entire loom.  Given that it was last operated over 10 years, the team have found themselves faced with a fair amount of mechanical grease and dirt, all of which needs to be cleaned away.  The results are already rewarding, as they have begun to unearth stunning steel and brass metalwork, along with uncovering the original deep green of the loom’s mainframe. Continue reading →

Texprint Winners 2016: Weave

19 September 2016 Exhibitions / General / New weave developments / News
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Jacob Monk_ winner of The Woolmark Company Texprint Award 2016_172Chloe FrostWeave graduates, Jacob Monk (Central Saint Martins, BA (Hons) Textile Design) and Chloe Frost, (MA, Royal College of Art) were both awarded Texprint top prizes by Martin Leuthold, Artistic Director of Jakob Schlaepfer. Jacob won the Woolmark Company Texprint Award and Chloe the Texprint Colour Award

Martin Leuthold stated “It is an honour to give these prizes. I have been in the industry for 50 years and I still enjoy it. And it is great to see the future in the Texprint designers. If you have creativity you can survive – you don’t have to be a big star: you have to be your own star. You give your heart to your ideas, and then you have the pleasure to give it away.”

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Exhibition: Theo Wright- Weavelength

16 September 2016 Events / Exhibitions / General / New weave developments
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Theo Wright - When Waves Collide 2 lo resWeavelength is the first solo exhibition by weaver Theo Wright, taking place at the Craft Central Gallery, London

Dates: 9-13 November 2016.

The exhibition features a series of handwoven artworks from a new project, When Waves Collide as well as work from an earlier project, Permutations, both based on ideas in mathematics.

Theo will be present at the gallery to demonstrate the weaving process on a table loom during the exhibition and will have a range of handwoven work for sale.

When Waves Collide
When Waves Collide is a new project supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by Coventry City Council. A collection of 13 wall-mounted textiles shows a range of different types of interaction between two waveforms.

Sine waves are woven into the structure of each textile and the project looks at what happens when two different waves interact. The waves are incorporated in both the warp and weft of each work, forming patterns of circles and waves that intersect across the fabric.

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Texprint 2016: Weave Participants

29 July 2016 Exhibitions / General / New weave developments
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alice image 5

Texprint interviews, mentors and promotes the UK’s most talented textile design graduates with the support of industry professionals worldwide.

Those selected are introduced to buyers, press and sponsors at the Texprint London event, and at Europe and Asia’s leading yarn and textile exhibitions.

Texprint is entirely funded by the generous sponsorship of industry and by British charitable foundations, who believe wholeheartedly in supporting textile design talent and in encouraging design innovation and excellence.

The following Weave Designers were selected:-

Alice Timmis
(Photograph above)

For my final collection, I was inspired by the gestural presence that an artist gives to his or her canvas. I produced a collection of woven fashion fabrics, hand finished using a variety of experimental techniques, sometimes using unorthodox tools.  I approached some of my fabrics like an artist would his canvas, and used my weave as the base ‘coat’ for other layers including embroidery, thus breaking away from the liner restrictions of the loom.

As part of this fashion-fabric collection driven by finishing methods, I developed a technique whereby woven cloth can be manipulated and shaped directly to the body.

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New Designers: The Swedish School of Textiles Borås

22 July 2016 Exhibitions / General / New weave developments / News
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Johanna-Samuelsson 01Students from The Swedish School of Textiles University of Borås exhibited at New Designers 2016. Three of the weavers are profiled below.

Johanna Samuelsson

Surface Synergy - Woven 3D texture merged with pattern

Surface Synergy – Woven 3D texture merged with pattern, is an innovative textile project that explores digital jacquard woven textures in combination with pattern. A digital visualising tool is used to create complex multilayered bindings that in combination with carefully chosen materials transform the flat textile surface into a patterned 3D-texture.

Textile designer Johanna Samuelsson explains that shrinking is used to transform the flat surface into a texturized one. At the same time as the pattern is created in the loom, also the texture is formed. Or rather, there is an interwoven ability for shrinking; this action of transformation is planned at the same time as the rest of the weave. As long as it is held   in the loom, the fabric is under tension and little shrinking can occur. First after cutting down and steaming, the final result of the shrinking can be seen. This work proposes on-loom effects requiring minimal finishing processes.

Woven patterns, such as plaid and houndstooth, are updated by merging with texture, twisting the traditions of the flat patterned surface. One of the strength with mixing pattern with texture is the concept of sensory manipulation. Johanna states ”I think that if a design, somehow breaks with the assumed aesthetic, or its traditions, we might look upon the object and start to really see it, just because it is distorting with over expectations. I think that a texturised textile has the power to evoke curiosity since its dynamic surface distorts the pattern and breaks up the ground surface into several visual elements.”

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New Designers: Weave Graduates

19 July 2016 Exhibitions / General / New weave developments / News
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Josephine Ortega 2LRJosephine Ortega
My project investigated the perception of ‘comfort’ and culminated in concept proposals for transport seating. In order to define this abstract notion, I explored where and when people feel at their most comfortable through a questionnaire. The documentation of these answers through photography allowed for the visualisation of comfort to become more transparent, which ultimately meant that the concept of ‘comfort’ could become tangible and definite, making it easier to depict. The main visual inspiration taken from an individual’s home and swimming pool were translated into the designs through extracting elements that referenced colour, pattern and yarn choice.

 I wanted to challenge the existing transport seating designs therefore decided to approach my project using an alternative construction method, exploring traditional techniques used to create rugs. This method meant that the designs pushed the boundaries of weight, density and scale, yet still remained practical through the use of wool.

www.josephineortega.com

Central Saint Martins, University of The Arts London.

Katie LangKatie Lang 2, The Glasgow School of Art

My collection of handwoven fabrics was initially inspired by modern architecture. After drawing and creating collages from photography of buildings around Glasgow and Edinburgh, it became apparent that some of my drawings were very graphic whilst others were more painterly; this led to me exploring the idea of developing fabrics that contrasted graphic and painterly qualities.

I identified weave structures which allowed me to play about with geometric patterns and shapes, and used different blends of colours and yarns to achieve the more painterly aspects identified from my drawings. The final collection is a range of fabrics intended for interiors, woven from silks, soft cottons and lambswool yarns.

 

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New Designers: Worshipful Company of Weavers Prize Winners

19 July 2016 Competitions / Events / Exhibitions / General / New weave developments / News
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IMG_6825The Worshipful Company of Weavers‘ prize for best woven fabrics at New Designers 2016 was awarded to Lydia Hiles from Manchester School of Art.

Lydia Hiles describes her work as: ‘captivated by methods of recording and storing information my intrigue into both the digital realm and the natural world has led to the development of a body of woven textile designs for fashion. I am particularly interested in adding a contemporary edge to traditional menswear fabrics by employing an innovative approach to colour, yarn, and structure.

Alongside my woven fabric designs I have also developed a trio of scarves commissioned for Flowers Gallery, London by the Michael Kidner trust. Inspired by the repeated undulating line motif of the column and wave works of Kidner the trio of woven lambswool scarves used his work as both a visual and conceptual catalyst. Taking particular interest in the themes of mathematics, chaos and wave theories I sought to capture the character of Michael Kidner’s artwork. I found that the scarf offered a unique canvas, in which composition and fabric qualities combined to create an exclusive piece of design for the gallery.” Continue reading →

London Craft Week 2016

20 April 2016 Events / Exhibitions / General / New weave developments / News / Workshops
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Harris tweed Hebrides

The second edition of London Craft Week will showcase exceptional craftsmanship from around the world through a  programme of 129 events across the city, featuring hidden workshops and unknown makers alongside celebrated masters, famous studios, galleries, shops and luxury brands from 3rd – 7th May 2016.

Weaving events include:
Dashing Tweeds  working on a table top loom to show the basics behind the design and development process used to create their urban cycling reflective tweeds, using unique reflective woollen cloth also known as lumatwill.  Dashing Tweeds specialise in creative woven textiles for menswear, tailoring modern sporting tweeds into ready to wear collections.Dashing Tweeds cloth for CraftW (1)
Lin: The Arts of Taiwanese Rush Weaving : Curated by Native & Co with Chia-En Lu and the Taiwan Yuan-Li Handiwork Association, this exhibition including a workshop explores the craft and techniques behind Taiwanese rush weaving, following its history and rebirth through contemporary design.

Native & Co, London Craft Week 2016With 300 years of history, rush weaving is one of Taiwan’s oldest and most traditional crafts. Lin wild rush grass, is native to the paddy fields of Yuanli in western Taiwan. First used by the Pingpu tribe to weave everyday objects, rush weaving evolved over centuries. At its peak the craft thrived under Imperial Japan, becoming one of Taiwan’s main exported goods. Rush weaving cannot be reproduced by machine and requires immense skill and patience. Chia-En showcases a series of hand-woven rush-weaved baskets, made in collaboration with the Taiwan Yuan-Li Handiwork Association. Each piece is handmade by master weaver Xue-Yun.

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Theo Moorman Trust Award: Cos Ahmet

15 April 2016 Exhibitions / General / New weave developments
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Cos_Ahmet_Mutatis-Mutandis-detail 3Cos Ahmet has received an award from the Theo Moorman Trust to develop new work which will be exhibited at the K&S Shows across three venues later this year.

The Theo Moorman Trust for Weavers has been in existence since 1990 and aims to be a valuable resource for both young and experienced weavers. The Trustees want to ensure that the grants that are made enable individual weavers to maintain a high standard of work, and through this, to promote weaving as an art form. The Trust was established in 1985 by Theo Moorman MBE (1907-1990) and came into operation on her death.

Cos Ahmet is a multi-disciplinary artist. His practice is made up of textiles, in the form of woven tapestry, collage, printmaking and object making. His interest in textiles as a medium of exploration in to identity, self and the body uses the practicalities of the medium to discern a metaphor within the human form, representing these as: ‘thread as the thought’, ‘warp as the skeleton’, ‘weft as flesh or skin’, and ‘weave’ as the soul.
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