Shopping Cart
*continental US addresses only
0
I’ve always been fascinated by the relationship of a tapestry to its original design and how it evolves on the loom. As an ancient art form, tapestry weaving has been practiced for thousands of years. Historically, the art and craft of weaving were intrinsically linked, with tapestries involving improvisation and the evolution of an idea as it came into being on the loom.
Yet, in modern times, we often see a sharp division between the acts of design and creation. Many weavers are taught to design a tapestry as a process separate to the act of weaving. There is, of course, importance in understanding both – and preliminary drawings are invaluable to weavers creating large and complex tapestries. At the same time, an overly rigid adherence to cartoons can be limiting, narrowing weaving to a mechanical exercise without space for spontaneity and creative inspiration. There can be incredible freedom in breaking away from this structure to create in a more intuitive manner.
For those interested in exploring intuitive weaving, inspiration can be drawn from the work of contemporary weavers who have taken a more improvisational approach. Many will have heard of Silvia Heyden, a Swiss-born artist who wove hundreds of abstract tapestries in her distinctive aesthetic style. Her work was often inspired by nature, movement and musical rhythm, incorporating shaped and curvilinear forms. She voiced her firm belief in ‘weaving based on the textile process of conceiving a tapestry directly on the loom, which can’t be preconceived through drawing or painting’.
