Wearables and Other Weaving
Scarf with one of my first painted warps with multiple weave structures in the cloth, 1992
I am fascinated with the process of making cloth, and I want the bones of the process to show in the finished work. Weaving is nearly unique among mediums in that the structure and the surface are one. Thus, there exists the opportunity to preserve the history of the making of the piece in its final form.
Several themes have been my constants even as my work has evolved. As a weaver, I have always been drawn to natural fibers and using them to create soft, pliable cloth. This is cloth that invites itself to wrap, shelter and envelope the human body, as cloth has for thousands of years.
I have long been fascinated by the loom’s ability to create woven patterning that is intrinsic to the cloth itself. Because I also love color, one of my abiding passions has been designing and creating cloth with a meaningful dialogue between these two powerful visual statements. My explorations in woven structures have been supported by a loom that interfaces with a computer that I use to design the structure of the cloth.
For many years, I have also explored painting warps with dyes before weaving occurs. This opens up opportunities to establish a visual dialogue between the color, scale and imagery of the dyed warp with the woven pattern.
Wearables
Installation view of "Under the Moon," kimono and roll of cloth with woven imagery of the phases of the moon, woven with eco-friendly bamboo yarn, exhibited at Brush Gallery, Lowell, MA, 2010
Installation view of "Text-Textile-Context," handwoven prayer shawl and jacquard-woven text exhibited at X-L Gallery, Syracuse, NY, 2009
Scarf with painted warp
Black and gray scarf
Tailored shawl, with painted warp, differential shrinkage of fibers, 2006
Scarf with painted warp, differential shrinkage of fibers, 2005
Scarf with painted warp with contrasting border and window imagery, 1999
Scarf with painted warp and window imagery, 1999
Scarf with painted warp with supplementary ribbon warps in the border, 1999
Shawl with painted warp with border in contrasting weave structure and color, 1999
Uzbek Ikat-inspired tailored shawl with tassel and painted warp with black & white border, 1998
Another painted warp scarf influenced by Uzbek Ikat, the first of many with black and white borders, 1996
"Scarf with painted warp, the first cloth inspired by Ikat weaving from Uzbekistan, 1996"
Vest and scarf with painted warps, during my exploration of window imagery in the cloth, 1995
Scarf with painted warp, mixed weave structures including long “basket weave” floats, 1995
Scarf (detail) with painted warp, combination of woven structures, 1994
Shawl with feathers bound into the fringes and feather imagery painted on the border in the cloth, 1993
Scarf with painted warp, 1992
Scarf with beaded fringe, inspired by Navaho rug weaving, 1988
Scarf with beaded fringe, inspired by Navaho rug weaving, 1988
Shawl in Summer & Winter woven structure, 1986
Other Weaving
“Hopping,” one of a series of three pieces commissioned by the Syracuse University Department of Physics to commemorate the research careers of three of its members, 2003
“In the Bubble,” from the series commissioned by Syracuse University Department of Physics, 2003
“HD,” from the series commissioned by Syracuse University Department of Physics, 2003
Book. Dyed, stitched, appliquéd on transparent cloth pages, 1993.
More book pages, 1993
Early weaving completed when I was about 9 years old, circa 1965
An early woven cloth being borrowed by my cats, 1985