Re-Collection

Recently, my jacquard woven piece entitled "Alicia" was accepted into  Fiber Arts VII, to be held at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts in California. It will be exhibited from October 22 - November 28, 2015. The opening reception is Friday, October 23 between 6-7:30 pm. 

"Alicia" is part of my Re-Collection series that I have been working on. Each piece woven is a shroud for a young girl or young woman, killed by a sexual predator. Each shroud is jacquard woven and I am looking for ongoing funding to support this project. It is the first time this shroud is being exhibited, and it means a lot to me that it is making its maiden voyage out into the world, to be seen, and to not be forgotten. 

"The pattern of the cloth dissolves the clearness of the features of the face, apparition like and haunting.   In close proximity to the shroud, it appears only to be a patterned textile. As one moves further away the image comes into focus.  This disintegration alludes to how memory works - sometimes clear, sometimes vague and blurry. As memory fades, it leaves one with an imperfect recollection of the event or person. Memory is described as “the process in which information is encoded, stored and retrieved”.  Similarly in jacquard weaving, information is encoded and stored in the punched cards and software and then retrieved as the treadle is pushed and released. The image also alludes to patterning found in textiles,  created by the circular clusters of dark and light points which form patterns of negative and positive space, associating it to the pattern of these societal behaviors." 

Videos that you might find interesting: 
Rebecca Mezoff and Barb Brophy talking about James Koehler: http://rebeccamezoff.blogspot.ca/2015/07/the-james-koehler-videos-from-denver_24.html
Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S19yrJlR2ac
Colour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ukOr5f3WY
Weaving as Meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCjBsn_jEGg
Distinct Style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiatDVZP_Co

Debbie Harris let us know about a commemorative tapestry for John Lennon. http://www.cbc.ca/news/watch-john-lennon-commemorative-tapestry-unveiled-on-ellis-island-1.3174247

Moonrain Centre http://www.moonrain.ca/

EXHIBITIONS

Fate, Destiny and Self-Determination: an international tapestry installation
http://tapestryline.blogspot.ca/2015/08/a-thrill-for-lifetime.html

Ramses Wissa Wassef tapestries on display in Oakville, Ontario
 http://www.joshuacreekarts.com/2015/09/13/3415/?utm_source=Arab+Spring&utm_campaign=35c72a7056-September_2015_Update9_23_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12ae6a5334-35c72a7056-64130069&ct=t(September_2015_Update9_23_2015)

Textile Art exhibitions in Italy
http://www.miniartextil.it/

Carlos Coelho recently emailed me expressing his desire to learn tapestry. In some email exchanges he mentioned that he was from Brazil and was inspired by tapestry weavers in his home country. These were some of the names he mentioned:
1- Genaro de Carvalho
2- Kennedy Bahia
3- Jacques Douchez (French-Brazilian)
4- Burle-Marx
You can find many works searching for their names on Google Images and visiting the website of the "Passado Composto" gallery in São Paulo: http://passadocomposto.com.br/
Also, sometimes instead of searching for "tapestry", you can also search for its equivalent word in portuguese "tapeçaria" to improve your results in websites not translated to English.
These are the artists that sparked my interest in tapestry and I would like to learn with you how to design similar tapestries.