From
the days of the Vikings, the loom has been a basic household
furnishing in Scandinavia. As a child, I sat at my grandmother's
side on the loom bench, as she wove her “treasures” of
fancy weaving ... rugs, wall hangings and patterned fabrics.
My Grandfather Carlson built her high castled box loom.
Later,
in high school, I experimented with latch-hook rug weaving
and, still later, designed rugs and hangings for my mother's
hooked rugs.
In
the late 40's, I saw an exhibition of modern French tapestries
by Jean Lurcat and his fellow designers at
the Worcester Art
Museum, where I was a student at the art school. These images
became etched
in my memory.
In
1950-51, at Yale’s School of Fine Arts, I studied the interaction
of color through countless
paper collages with
Josef Albers.
However, his wife, Anni,
was a formidable weaver/designer in her own right.
Her work and writings on tapestry weaving are seminal to
my work in fibers.
In
1971, I spent several months in Ireland and, at Killibegs, I
visited a rug and tapestry works.
I was intrigued by
what I saw
and, when I returned to the States, I began my first
tapestry weaving on a loom that I built based on a vertical Navaho
rug loom. And,
as it is said, “The rest is history”.
My
designs, for the most part, are abstract, based on the technical
restrictions of tapestry weaving. I reject
realism
per se,
as I have no interest in doing in fiber what is far
easier to do
in
drawing or painting. I opt for the vibrant color possibilities
inherent in dyed wool, acrylic and metal fibers, and
the power of straight-forward forms that result from
the simple “tabby” weave
and interlocking of edges. I often blend colors, sometimes
harmonious and sometimes disparate ... called, in the
French tradition melange
or chinç. I utilize the techniques of
Flemskväv,
Kilem, Soumac and Native American weaving.
In
a sense, I try to let the tapestry weave itself.
“ON
WEAVING”
ANNI ALBERS, 1965
“I
HAVE MADE NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE
CRAFTSMAN DESIGNER,
THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER, AND THE ARTIST
BECAUSE THE FUNDAMENTAL,
IF NOT THE SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS
ARE THE SAME ...
FOR THOSE WHO WORK WITH THE CONSCIENCE
AND THE APPERCEPTION OF THE ARTIST.” |
The
Peaceweaver's Web Tapestry
More
about the Peaceweaver's Web
Camelot
60" x
50"
“Ballo
In Maschera”
The Masked Ball
Persian
wool, DMC floss, metal fibers and Japan gold on 10/2 cotton warp,
Spaced 11 ends per inch. It took two awards in 2001 at the New
England Weavers exhibit: First Place in Tapestry & Best in Show.
It
is a abstract visual interpretation, in wool weft on linen warp,
based on the opera by Giuseppi Verdi, Un Ballo in Maschera.
16"
x 16"
1990
