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Between The Hand and The Loom
By Kaija Rautiainen
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I began making the transition to jacquard weaving about five years ago. I got a grant from British Columbia Arts Council that made it possible for me to go to Finland to study with Katja Huhmaskangas, one of the first instructors who taught jacquard weaving. . . . Our loom, The Thread Controller TC-1, from Digital Weaving Norway, is a small version of the looms used in industrial textile applications, and was developed for use in schools and personal studios. DWN is the leading jacquard loom manufacturer for artists’ use.
. . . Because of my background in tapestry, I continue creating works with a strong feel of the hand and texture. I am trying to make pieces where the stiffness and body of traditional tapestry is united with an image done with a continuous weft. The ever inspiring imagery of birch trees with black and white trunks lends itself well to experimenting with the new loom.
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below: Kaija Rautiainen, Birch Landscape, 33"x 28",
warp cotton, weft linen handwoven jacquard tapestry
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As a point of departure I made the first piece closely similar to the tapestries I used to weave on a shaft loom. Then using the possibilities of the digital media I let the imagery grow, yet making sure that I maintained a hand-woven touch. In my series Northern Elements I used colors in the background and a pattern of lichen. The mostly black and white focal point in the middle is an image of a caribou herd.
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below: Kaija Rautiainen, Northern Elements, 52"x 21",
warp cotton, weft linen handwoven jacquard tapestry
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A commission of two rope image tapestries has evolved into a large series on this theme. They could be interpreted as ropes, threads or fiber. The warp is black cotton and my weft is several strands of fine copper wire and linen. In my earlier tapestries I used about five strands of fine linen 16/1 together on a bobbin to make the right hue. I continue working the same way but replacing some linen with copper wire, which makes the weave push and pull. The three dimensional surface reflects light and plays with the contrasts of subdued linen and shiny copper.
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below: Kaija Rautiainen, Golden Ropes, 38"x 28",
warp: cotton, weft: linen & copper wire, handwoven jacquard tapestry
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ATA Award at TWS exhibit
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The ATA Award presented at Tapestry Weavers South's "Southern Yarns" Exhibition proudly goes to Tommye McClure Scanlin for her "Legacy of Operation Ranch Hand: Tree Fragments". Selection by Stephen Aimone, author of DESIGN: A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists and Craftspeople
Stephen Aimone states: "Legacy of Operation, Ranch Hand: Tree Fragments" is eloquent on many levels. Compositionally, the tapestry is masterful—balanced and resolved in a way that is not completely discernable, but keeps the viewer engaged. It is full of visual tension . . . beautifully countered by relationships that unify: a warm-cold complementary color contrast of blue and orange, and a uniformity that results from the textural quality of the weaving. . . The work is constructed on an underlying grid. This kind of structure, and the geometry of the square, might be interpreted as a metaphor for an idealized, predictable order that we all crave in life. In contrast, Scanlin’s tree fragments are completely organic, one of a kind. These speak poetically of the individual—imperfect, having evolved into being, very much alive, flowing in response to their environment and to one another . . . Textual references, stenciled on the wooden bar at the top furnish the narrative clues.
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below: Tommye McClure Scanlin,
Legacy of Operation Ranch Hand: Tree Fragments, 30”x12”
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