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      A Flower Patch of Recycled Denim Grows from the Ceiling in Ian Berry’s ‘Secret Garden’

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      Art

      #denim
      #fashion
      #flowers
      #installation
      #textiles

      July 14, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Secret Garden” (2021), at Museum Rijswijk. Photo by Marcus van Ee. All images © Ian Berry, shared with permission
      Whimsical tendrils of vines, foliage, wisteria, and chrysanthemums sprout from artist Ian Berry’s wild, overgrown garden plots. Densely assembled and often suspended from the ceiling, his recurring “Secret Garden” is comprised of blooms and leafy plants created entirely from recycled denim, producing immersive spaces teeming with indigo botanicals in various washes and fades.
      Since its debut at the New York Children’s Museum of the Arts, Berry’s site-specific installation has undergone a few iterations. “The first one was made with children in mind… hence the more magical secret garden angle,” he says, “just wanting to (ensure they think about) where the material comes from, see what they can make, and seek out outdoor places within a city.” It’s since traveled to London, Barcelona, The Netherlands, France, Kentucky, and the San Francisco Flower Mart, where it’s permanently installed as a trellis lining the space’s windows.

      “Secret Garden,” New York Children’s Museum of the Arts. Photo by Lucinda Grange
      The initial installation sourced damaged bolts from Cone Denim, specifically its now-shuttered White Oak Mill in North Carolina, which is known for its dedication to transparent cotton sourcing and commitment to using less water. Although much of Berry’s works recycle discarded jeans, jackets, and materials that are unusable for garments and employ environmentally conscious companies like Tonello to wash and laser the vines, sustainability is an ancillary element of his practice.
      Instead, the East London-based artist focuses on generating a broader conversation about the ways communities change over time and a hope that people will find magic where it’s not necessarily expected.  “The piece was born out of the idea that in New York, many children would grow up without a garden, and as much of my work is about the community in urban environments,” he shares. “I wanted afterwards for the parents and children to go and seek them out—and they did.”
      “Secret Garden” is on view as part of Berry’s solo show Splendid Isolation, which is up through August 15 at Museum Rijswijk in the Hague, The Netherlands. In October, his work is headed to the Textil Museet in Sweden, where it’ll be until May 2022. Explore a larger collection of his textile-based floral pieces on his site and Instagram.

      “Secret Garden,” New York Children’s Museum of the Arts. Photo by Will Ellis
      “Secret Garden” (2021), at Museum Rijswijk. Photo by Marcus van Ee
      “Secret Garden,” New York Children’s Museum of the Arts. Photo by Lucinda Grange
      “Secret Garden,” New York Children’s Museum of the Arts. Photo by Will Ellis
      “Secret Garden,” New York Children’s Museum of the Arts. Photo by Lucinda Grange

      #denim
      #fashion
      #flowers
      #installation
      #textiles

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      Thread Infused with Scent Embellishes Embroidered and Woven Textiles to Stimulate Memories

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      Art

      #embroidery
      #fiber art
      #scents
      #textiles
      #weaving

      June 1, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Jasmine I” embroidery on silk organza with jasmine-scented yarn dyed with hibiscus, beetroot, indigo, and turmeric, 36 x  54 inches. All images © Pallavi Padukone, shared with permission
      Scent, memory, and emotion are inextricably bound together in the human brain, making it possible that a single sniff evokes feelings of delight, comfort, and calm associated with an experience. Pallavi Padukone uses this inherent connection in Reminiscent, a series of six fiber-based works infused with naturally derived fragrances, all of which the textile artist and designer equates with her hometown of Bangalore, India.
      Part aromatherapy and part nostalgic stimulus, the fiber pieces hang from the ceiling as delicate, sheer curtains that are accessible from all sides. Padukone weaves and embroiders using thread that’s covered in a wax-and-resin substance she developed through trial-and-error. “The testing phase for the coated yarn involved sampling weave structures and embroidery techniques that were best suited for the yarn. I kept a record of swatches as a test of their durability and how long the scent and color last when exposed to heat and light,” she says.

      “Sandalwood,” handset and machine embroidered sandalwood scented yarn dyed with cutch and beetroot over layered organza silk dyed with cutch, rojo quebracho, walnut, madder, and iron, 13.5 x 15 inches
      Infused with clove, vetiver, jasmine, citronella, sandalwood, or rose, the cotton yarns also are hand-dyed naturally, pulling out the golden color of turmeric and rusty tones from cutch and beets to pair with a corresponding aroma. “It’s ironic that I happened to choose scent during a time when wearing masks is the new normal,” Padukone tells Colossal. “While the beauty of olfactory art is that it has to be experienced in person, I use textiles, patterning, and color as a way to visually represent my depiction of the fragrance’s personality.” A yellow and green patchwork, for example, emits the grassy, lemon-like aroma of citronella, while sweet, musky sandalwood is paired with thick, abstract coils of yarn on sepia-toned silk.
      Although the scents are embedded in many of the works, tiny accessible pockets cover the undyed organza in “Jasmine II,” ensuring Padukone can replace the flower buds. She’s currently exploring other methods that allow replenishment considering most fragrances last between one and three months. The transience of sent, though, is part of its appeal. She explains:
      I find beauty in impermanence and how each textile’s color, structure, fragrance changes over time. In this collection, I have incorporated handspun recycled sari silk and cotton for my weaves and embroider on organza silk. I am drawn to the sheerness of the fabric, the way it interacts with light to visually evoke the ephemeral experience of fragrance.
      Padukone lives and works in New York, and you can see more of Reminiscent and other textile-based projects on her site and Instagram.

      “Citronella I,” handwoven pre-dyed cotton and citronella scented yarn dyed with turmeric, indigo, and chili, 16 x 40 inches
      “Sandalwood,” handset and machine embroidered sandalwood scented yarn dyed with cutch and beetroot over layered organza silk dyed with cutch, rojo quebracho, walnut, madder and iron, 13.5 x 15 inches
      Photo by Olivia Koval
      Photo by Olivia Koval
      “Jasmine I” embroidery on silk organza with jasmine-scented yarn dyed with hibiscus,  beetroot, indigo, and turmeric, 36 x  54 inches.
      “Jasmine II,” un-dyed silk organza, jasmine buds, 41 x 44 inches

      #embroidery
      #fiber art
      #scents
      #textiles
      #weaving

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      Life-Sized Wildlife Protrude from Ornate Rugs in Perspective-Bending Sculptures

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      Art

      #animals
      #carpets
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

      March 29, 2021
      Anna Marks

      “Persian Kangaroo.” All images © Debbie Lawson, shared with permission
      A new menagerie of polar bears, stags, and kangaroos resemble typical wildlife except for the fact that they’re literally swept under the carpet, their features hidden from view. These towering sculptural forms are by artist Debbie Lawson (previously), who crafts animals that are cloaked in sweeping Persian rugs. Rather than being camouflaged by a forest, jungle, or snow-covered Arctic, Lawson’s creatures boldly protrude from the fabric and loom over the viewer.
      In her process, Lawson sculpts the animals from a combination of chicken wire and masking tape. She then layers luscious carpets across them, creating the illusion that these animals are about to jump, walk, and prance out of the fabric. This method is derived from what Lawson describes as her ability to spot hidden images in floors, textured walls, and various patterns, an interest that’s mirrored in her perspective-altering sculptures that appear to leap out from the gallery’s walls.
      Peek inside Lawson’s studio and find a larger selection of her carpeted creatures on her site and Instagram.

      Lawson with “Polar Bear” in-progress
      “Bear Cartouche”
      Detail of “Persian Kangaroo”
      Detail of “Polar Bear” in-progress
      Left: “Blue Stag.” Right: “Red Boar”
      “Bear Cartouche”
      Detail of “Red Boar”

      #animals
      #carpets
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

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      Lush Tufted Tapestries Document Ecological Changes in Argentina’s Landscapes

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      Art
      Craft
      Design

      #Argentina
      #carpets
      #landscapes
      #rugs
      #tapestry
      #textiles

      March 25, 2021
      Anna Marks

      All images © Alexandra Kehayoglou, shared with permission
      Designer Alexandra Kehayoglou (previously) creates exquisite pieces of flowing textiles that reference the rugged landscapes of her homeland, Argentina. In the creation of each tapestry, Kehayoglou transforms surplus carpet fabric into natural elements that range from a spectrum of Earth-colored mosses to clusters of trees and serpentine rivers that cut through the heart of her weaves. Entwined within each piece are fragments of the artist’s own memories, including witnessing waterways slowly recede and the alterations to Argentina’s grasslands.
      Her latest works, a series called Prayer Rugs, depict animal footprints and small vegetative features of the Parana Wetlands located 50 kilometers from Buenos Aires. In recent years, the region’s biodiversity has been decimated by the wood and paper industries, which have facilitated the growth of non-native plant species that have since spread out of control. Additionally, human-made fires wreaked havoc during 2020, while livestock simultaneously trampled the once-luscious grassland.
      Kehayoglou’s pieces document the foliage that has survived after years of this widespread exploitation and how, over time, local fauna has started to reappear: thistles grow through cracks in the dry Earth, deer leave mud-splattered tracks, and chirping insects dance upon youthful leaves. The artworks narrate the wetland’s change and growth, reflecting the pain caused by capitalism while turning the need for change into tapestries that reference Argentinians’ hope. Kehayoglou says:
      Isolation made me think of my carpets as spaces where new forms of activism could be enacted. A type of activism that instead of focusing on paranoid conflict was silent, absorptive and, as I believe, more effective. My carpets, thus, became instruments for documenting ‘minor’ aspects of the land, which were otherwise overlooked as irrelevant. A focus on its micro-narratives that would open new doors for possible ecological futures.
      You can see more of the artist’s rich tapestries on her website and Instagram.

      #Argentina
      #carpets
      #landscapes
      #rugs
      #tapestry
      #textiles

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      Colorful Tufts of Tulle Float Down the California Coastline in New Photographs by Thomas Jackson

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      Art
      Photography

      #installation
      #textiles

      March 16, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Thomas Jackson, shared with permission
      2020 was a year of many realizations, but for Thomas Jackson (previously), the most profound was “proof of the adage that creativity thrives under constraints.” Known for suspending swarms of everyday objects on the rocky shores of the Isle of Man or desert locales across the southwest U.S., the photographer shifted his practice as lockdowns spread and limited his ability to travel beyond nearby landscapes.
      The resulting series reflects these restrictions and focuses on a single location and adaptable material: swaths of colorful nylon float above the beaches and down the California coastline, creating compositions that juxtapose the natural environment with the bright, manufactured materials. “I chose tulle for its mutability—depending on how it’s arranged and how the wind catches it, it can morph from a solid to a liquid, to fire to billowing smoke,” Jackson says.
      Shot on 4×5 film with little to no editing, the photographs convey a pared-down approach. Rather than hire people to help him install the sculptural objects in exact positions, Jackson utilized driftwood to prop up the lightweight textiles and the wind to infuse the fabric with movement. He explains:
      On every shoot, Northern California’s offshore breezes were my collaborator, the force that transformed my installations from lifeless fabric to living things. As collaborations go it was a tumultuous one—of the twenty or so pieces I built and photographed last year, thirteen were failures—but along the way, I learned a thing or two about the importance of staying on nature’s good side. When I built pieces that obstructed or defied the wind in any way, I’d go home unhappy, but when my constructions respected and responded to the wind, interesting things would occur!
      Jackson shares a wide array of his work that mimics the amorphous, self-organizing patterns of birds, insects, and other animals, along with behind-the-scenes shots and footage of his process, on Instagram.

      #installation
      #textiles

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      Swaths of Tulle Billow from Site-Specific Installations by Ana María Hernando

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      Art

      #installation
      #site-specific
      #textiles

      March 1, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Solo se escuchaba el aire (Only The Air Was Heard)” (2020), tulle, wood, metal, 125 x 120 x 258 inches. Installation at the Château de la Napoule, La Napoule Art Foundation, France. Photo by Sebastian Collett. All images © Ana María  Hernando, shared with permission
      Fueled with a sense of rebellion, yards of colorful tulle cascade from windows and down staircases in site-specific installations by Ana María Hernando. The soft, pliable material breaches existing architecture and entwines trees in swaths of mesh, creating works that are both visually striking and subversive.
      Evocative of ballgowns and garments that are traditionally worn by women, the tulle explodes into a flood of fabric as a way to break with social constructions surrounding feminity. “As a Latina, I explore how the feminine comes forward in strength and flexibility, in beauty and in (an) unstoppable abundance of generosity,” the Argentinian artist says.
      Though she’s worked with a range of materials, Hernando shares that she always incorporates a textile element, which seems “to be an expansive conduit for my work” and references her childhood in Buenos Aires, where she observed the women in her family sewing, crocheting, and embroidering together every day. She explains:
      The things they made from fabric and thread were expressions of their spirit. All the beauty—the hours of work, the washing and ironing—was made invisible once the table was laid and stained with food. I explore the unacknowledged feminine force of work as a prayer that I have known my whole life.
      Hernando mainly works from Boulder, although she’s spent much of the year so far in a forest in Tennessee’s South Cumberland Plateau. If you’re in Colorado, view the artist’s multidisciplinary projects in the coming months as part of Present Box at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and in a September solo show at Denver Botanic Gardens. In 2022, you can find her at the Sun Valley Museum of Art and Denver’s Robischon Gallery. Until then, explore an archive of her tufted, textile-based projects on her site and Instagram. (via Cross Connect Magazine)

      “Waterfall” (2020), a temporary tulle installation at the Château de la Napoule, La Napoule Art Foundation, France. Photo by Rachel Berkowitz
      “Waterfall” (2020), a temporary tulle installation at the Château de la Napoule, La Napoule Art Foundation, France. Photo by Rachel Berkowitz
      “Flood (Déferlante)” (2020), tulle, installation at the Château de la Napoule, La Napoule Art Foundation, France
      “Lantern” (2020), tulle, wire, and wood. Château de la Napoule, La Napoule Art Foundation, France
      “Unmoored from the Familiar Expectations” (2020), performative installation at the Château de la Napoule, La Napoule Art Foundation, France, featuring Christopher Kojzar and Alessandro Sciaraffa. Photo by Rachel Berkowtiz
      Photo by Sebastian Collett

      #installation
      #site-specific
      #textiles

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      Oversized Spiders by Mister Finch Transform Vintage Textiles into Fairytale Sculptures

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      Art
      Craft

      #sculpture
      #spiders
      #textiles

      October 22, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Mister Finch, shared with permission
      Leeds-based artist Mister Finch (previously) thrifts scraps of brocades and cottons to shape into fantastical creatures that are both whimsical and slightly unnerving. His recent pieces include a series of oversized spiders that the artist photographs suspended from the ceiling or scaling his workshop wall. “The past few years my work has become more sculpture-based with my creatures pretty much all stood up and attached to bases.” Finch writes. “I love the way this looks and enables me to dress and humanize them, which is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
      Although the ongoing pandemic has stifled the artist’s foraging of fabrics and other materials in recent months, Finch notes that he’s been pulling textiles from his home stash and occasionally visiting fairs and markets. He’s also been scaling down his sculptures so that they’re easier to handle without assistance.
      Finch published two books filled with his fairytale-style sculptures and settings in recent years—and currently is working on a third—which you can purchase in his shop along with cards and totes. Dive further into his eccentric projects on Instagram.

      #sculpture
      #spiders
      #textiles

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      Textile Artists File Their Nails in Tiny Grooves for Traditional Japanese Weaving Technique

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      Art
      Craft
      History

      #Japan
      #nails
      #textiles
      #video
      #weaving

      August 25, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      Image courtesy of Kiyohara Seiji
      Along with a comb and shuttle, textile artists crafting “tsumekaki hon tsuzure ori,” the intricate and durable brocades that are part of Japanese traditions, employ the jagged tips of their fingernails. Common in the Shiga prefecture, the ancient technique utilizes the weaver’s grooved nails to guide the threads down the loom, ensuring they’re placed tightly together. The “tsuzure ori,” or tapestry weave, has roots in the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573), while this specific method has been in Japan for at least 1,000 years, according to Kiyohara Seiji, a representative of Kiyohara Textile Co., Ltd.
      To see how the comb-shaped nails work and the ornate textiles they’re used to produce, watch the video below. (via Laughing Squid)

      

      #Japan
      #nails
      #textiles
      #video
      #weaving

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