Exhibition Catalogue
Handwoven Tapestries and Damasks
Viv Davy
30 June - 26 July 2014.
Lysaght Watt Gallery
Union St
Hawera
Taranaki
On turning 30 I made the move to Toronto to take up
full time study of woven textiles at The Ontario College of Arts. This marked
the start of a new, structured approach to my tapestry weaving which up until
then had been experimental playing with fibers and colours. While learning the
history and technical contexts of Woven Tapestry in the academic environment I
started to grasp the emotive power of the medium.
Made In Canada 1983.
Completed as Part of
Undergraduate Studies at The Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Canada.
Responding to a course brief
as set by Helen Francis Gregor - Senior Textile Tutor.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks
Landscape 1984.
Completed as Part of
Undergraduate Studies at The Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Canada.
Responding to a course brief
as set by Helen Francis Gregor - Senior Textile Tutor.
Warp - Cotton. Weft -
Hand Dyed Silk Buttonhole Twists. Slit
weaves exploration
Gondwanaland 1985.
Completed as Part of
Undergraduate Studies at The Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Canada.
Responding to a course brief
as set by Helen Francis Gregor - Senior Textile Tutor.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks. Twill Weft-faced weave
structure
Evidence 1986.
Completed for Graduation
Exhibition at The Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Canada. Responding to a
course brief as set by Helen Francis Gregor- Senior Textile Tutor.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silk Sewing Threads. Woven
shaped then stitched
Mapped -
Wearable Explorations 1986.
An exploration of maps as a design
source was a dominant strand in my graduation work. It was a way of processing
my diaspora, which at this stage included not only my birth country, friends,
extended family but also my own children. The explorations became intense and
emotive for me.
A series of the designs were assembled in the
accompanying hand made book. Several
images were woven. Of these some were finished with mountings. This was part of
my search to find a way to support myself making tapestry in a format that
would be marketable.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Silk Button hole Twist. Mount -
Aluminium
Damasks
The damask items in this exhibition were hand woven on
a 70-draw harness Swedish floor loom. I embraced this loom in my final year At
The Ontario College of Art.
The combination of a draw system and damask weave
creates a positive/negative fabric where the pattern is made by reversing the
weave structure from the surrounding base material.
My delight in this system was firstly that I could
free design for the width module of the 70 units and create a 'graphic' pattern
that need never repeat for the length of the item being woven. My second
delight was that if I used fine material - 60/2 silks in these instances- the
material produced was fine enough that the blocked patterns read as curves. I
had encountered the way to 'beat' the grid structure of weaving but still
create a useable cloth.
The down side of this loom was its size and complexity
to set up and tune. Subsequently the installations of the loom have been
limited, the work made being for specific clients.
The loom is currently being re-erected and, as time
allows, I should be 'beating' the grid again soon.
Graduation saw the real need to find a way to make
money with my skills and knowledge. The tapestries became my 'indulgence' after
the bread and butter piece goods weaving. They were predominantly worked on a
small, portable scale, which accommodated my unsettled living at this time.
Windows I 1987.
Responding to the ancient
live chicken market building in the heart of Chinatown, Toronto. This series of
tapestries came from pastel drawings inspired by this 'lost - in - time'
building, just seconds from the Ontario College of Art Campus.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks. Mounting - Knitted
Copper Wire
Windows II 1987.
The use of knitted copper
wire to create a mounting for these woven images resonates with the wire cages
of the chicken market and reflects on 'community'. This business was evidence
of a
tight-knit community that had
cultural practices that had thrived despite diaspora. This was a transfer
completely different from my own cultural dislocation. I found it powerfully
beautiful at the same time as it made me sad for what I had lost.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks. Mounting - Knitted
Copper Wire
Windows III 1987.
My weaving is done with the
good face away from the work surface. In other words I always weave backwards.
This creates a finished image that is a mirror image of the original design
cartoon as can be seen when comparing the pastel drawing to the final woven
piece.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks. Mounting - Knitted
Copper Wire
My Street. Brooch. 1987.
The search for 'a place to
belong' that has started in my earlier map based works became more central to
my weaving. I began emotive
mapping of my own
environment. This was the first piece in that exploration series.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks. Mounting - Hand
crafted Silver.
The Route Through Life Is Beyond 1988.
This is the first piece in a
series of daily emotional maps. At the end of each day I recorded the day in a
small visual diary, then a selection was woven. At this time I was living in
Cabbagetown, Toronto - an area experiencing the early stages of gentrification.
My dog and I walked everywhere in this community of transition and this
nurtured my search for 'my place'.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks
And the Spirit can wander from Sea to Field 1987.
Being landlocked was a big
adjustment for me. My childhood was built around the sea and swimming. My soul
yearned for the ocean.
I was also in the heart of
the largest urban concentration I had ever lived in and the open farmlands that
I had left behind in New Zealand seemed a long way away.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks
As the Sun Filled the Day... We Explored 1988.
The winters in Canada were
always a period of excitement and learning for me, coming from Auckland, New
Zealand. Toronto was grey and bleak most of the winter - too warm from the
concrete jungle to get the blessing of a substantial snow blanket. So in the
Spring, when the days brightened, it was a cause for celebration.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks
It was a moment of pure pleasure 1988.
Some days in life just bring
discoveries that light up the soul and fill the whole being with happiness. It
makes you feel like you are expanding beyond your normal boundaries into
newness.
This was one such day.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Silk
The Strength of Quiescence 1988
There was a spiritual uplift
in the glorious display of the Autumn in Canada for me. The colours sang of
hope even though they were the
dying leaves. I embraced the
cycle of renewal they showed as I worked to rebuild my own life.
Warp - Cotton. Weft -
Assorted Silks
Content to be the Observer 1988.
To take a position of observing
the lives immediately around me and not needing to be in control or responsible
for them was a process of learning for me at this time in my life. Defining my
boundaries and learning to live with them took effort but bought a calm to my
days.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silk
Parting is Not Sweet Sorrow 1988.
There was an extended period
of time when my beloved young children were on the other side of the world from
me. Their magical Summer holiday visits were the focus of the world I was rebuilding.
However their lives were elsewhere and the grief of separation on their
departure defied words.
Warp - Cotton. Weft -
Assorted Silks
Inner Labyrinths 1988.
The struggle of desires and
dreams, practical need to maintain existence and the encoded sense of
obligations took place in a space of inner emptiness. The search for 'me' and
'my place' was fraught. Warp - Cotton. Weft
- Assorted Silk
I had returned to New Zealand but had not found 'my
place' to be still here. Things had changed. I had changed. I was now in my
second diaspora.
Nudes 1995.
The restarting of my Tapestry
practice was exciting. I had a desire to explore natural curved lines, this
design developed from life drawing classes. These classes re-opened a world I
knew but had long left. I started the rebuilding back at 'home'.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks and Boucle Cottons
Another hiatus, new job, new extended family
responsibilities, new partner. My making set aside while life became saturated
in 'other'. Then, the settling with a move to Northland marking the
revitalisation of my tapestry practice.
Captured Loyalties 2002.
Tensions existed between
memories and connections back in Canada, and my new life and I sought a way to
express these with the use of differing media from my usual practice. Local
driftwood secured my 'core' that was formed and wired as it was woven.
Acrylic on stretched canvas, copper wire, cotton warp, weft-
cotton embroidery floss, found wood.
Opito Inspirations 2005.
The start of a new life in The
Bay of Islands with the beach below the home, and hours spent watching my
beloved ocean bought a sense of healing and growth to me. This allowed for new
expressions and visual interests. The consistent obsession with fine detail and
emotive colour remained.
Warp - Cotton. Weft -
Assorted Silks. Wire
On a Still Morning 2005.
From the window of my studio.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Silks
Curves of Life I 2006.
The new life included sailing
and diving, interrupted by endless hours of beach walks. Happy, happy days.
Seashells triggered the
Curves of Life Series, woven to shape on the loom.
Warp - Cotton. Weft -
Assorted Silks
Curves of Life II 2006.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks
Curves of Life III 2006.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silk
Seeking a like-minded support community to help
nurture my practice I joined the New Zealand Tapestry Exchange Network, which
organised annual projects. The next works are my responses to those projects.
Treble Clef 2006/07.
The challenge.
Project - Design and
Weave a Tapestry to fit into a CD case
Subject - Music (of
course)
Size: Limited by the
CD case but may be smaller. The CD case should be 10mm in depth (standard size
case is 125 x 142mm x 10mm) to allow room for the tapestry. This will become
the frame to later display or hang the work. The plastic section inside the
case and any papers are to be removed to fit in the work. Note that the case
needs to be able to close so check this when you are planning your sett and
yarn thickness.
This piece was woven as two,
both loom shaped. The clef was then positioned over the main circular weaving.
Achieving this level of curving on the loom was a real benchmark for my
technical explorations.
Warps - Cotton. Wefts
- Assorted Silks
Joy Germs. I found them in my garden 2008.
The challenge.
Inspired by Gardens
Tapestry Size - Any
shape up to 20cm x 20cm.
Weave your own design
and someone else's as well. Someone else will weave your design and you get
returned both copies of your design.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Cotton
Embroidery Floss
Reckitts Blue 2008-09.
The Challenge.
Tapestry Blues
Project - Weave a
tapestry using the colour blue in it. The whole tapestry does not have to be
blue, but you may like to weave the tapestry completely in blues.
Theme - Tapestry Blues
Tapestry Size - Any
shape up to 20cm x 20cm.
Reckitts Blue source
http://adrianwinter.co.uk/logbooks/204Logbook/pages/reckitts.htm
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Cotton Embroidery Floss
Volatus Avium I 2010.
The Challenge.
Travelling Suitcase
Exhibition - Within the Square. Any shape up to 20cm x 20cm.
This work explores the world of birds and flight. My
interest in this has come from two directions, my fascination with, and love of
birds, and my daughter becoming a glider pilot and sharing her skies with me. The
work is an emotional interpretation of a beautifully developed natural
mechanism. A salute to freedom.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Cotton Embroidery Floss
In tandem with meeting these 'set' challenges my own
explorations continued. These works are the outcome of that.
Life Form 2008.
This joyous celebration of
life was formed by my abiding interest in working outside of straight lines,
pushing the technical boundaries of shaping on the loom.
Merit Award winner for Creative Fibre
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Cotton Embroidery Flosses, Metallics
Asunder-Torn 2006/07
Reflecting on a period of turbulence, the feeling of tension is carried into a woven expression.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Silks, Cotton Embroidery Floss,
Metallics.
And the Thunder passes the Light to the Earth 2008.
One of a series of reaction
to experiences of the natural world.
Warp - Cotton. Weft - Assorted Silks
An Old Friend completed
2013.
Currently at Puke Ariki in Home Work.
Warp - Cotton. Weft -
Assorted Silks, cottons, synthetic fibre.
Scape I Damask
Weave Kimono
Scape I. Kimonos are the ideal format for damask
explorations. The weave width resonates well with the number of design blocks
available and the weight of the fibre used. Traditionally the kimonos often
emulated the continuum from earth to sky, this was the concept I employed in
developing this design. The graphic components were sections of maps,
continuing with that work I was also exploring in the tapestries.
The process for completion of
this particular kimono was after the design was woven in white silk damask, the
inverted blocks were hand painted with silk dyes, the garment was steamed to
set the dyes and then it was lined with a commercially woven silk. The garment
is hand stitched and created to specific traditional dimensions.
100% Silk.
(Scape II is
held by The Ontario College of Art in their permanent collection.)
Fans Damask
Weave Kimono
The design for this weave was
based on Gingko Tree Leaves which have the organic form of 'fans'. The area of
Toronto where I was living was blessed with many of these trees which would
create a carpet of 'fans' on the sidewalks just as winter started - magic in
the heart of a large city.
100% Silk, hand dyed weft.
Trellis Damask
For this more peasant style
kimono top I derived from graphic design from architectural features in my
neighbourhood, often glimpsed through trellis type fencing.
100% Silk. Hand-dyed weft.
Arrows of Pain Damask
Panels
These panels are a reflective
piece that also explored the use of insertions into the base damask weave
structure.
100% Silk
Scarves.
