Made with paper or fabric, these works come in different sizes. They adorn a wall, a table or can be worn!
FABRIC SERIES
80*100cm
July 2022
Onda
Milano, Italia
How did it all started?
At the very beginning I was using calligraphy paper, that I had brought back from China in my suitcases, as I left Shanghai after 23 years in Asia... I still use paper from time to time as it offers a lot of potential in creativity: I can draw, paint or stain on paper. It is soft enough to be manipulated and torn. But paper is very fragile and can break easily if I pull too hard as I make a knot.
I was showing my paper works to my friends Anna and Massimo from Pergola, owners of a top end lab for denim pants and jackets for luxury brands. They had leftovers of fabric bias rolls in stock with no use for it, and very nicely gave me a few of them to experiment with. The rolls were white and of different width and texture. I got hooked immediately and started using them. First with small pieces and then I adventured to larger and larger pieces, until I used out all of the available stock! Now I am at the point where I would need to order them or look for more leftovers.
What are they made of?
The textile pieces are made of strips of white cotton bias. The bias come in rolls of about 70 meters long each. I cut the strips according to the size and the effect I need. Once cut, I fix them to a metallic structure normally used for gardening with a very simple and basic knot making technique. Each work actually means a lot of strips being cut and requires before-hand thinking on the shape, the dimensional and directional effects I wish to give to the piece. I first sketch a draft on plain white paper, and then use millimetric paper to get a more detailed plan of my work to use as a guide. I often get new ideas as I am making them, thus allowing myself to change idea and to follow the new more suitable one. Sometimes I get stuck with the inherent limitations and have to rethink and find solutions! That's also the fun of it.
Why white?
The rolls I was offered were white! But I do love the varying effects that stem from the different directions. I love how the knots meet and overlap or how they get away from one another. I feel they have a story to tell, and white on white also allows that. I wonder if I'll ever get tired of white, probably not! But I am curious to try with other colors too, either for other monochrome pieces or by incorporating more colors together. Here again, so many possibilities!
The inherent sense of calm and purity of white makes it also very attractive to me, and what was a constrain originally is now something that I look for. Let's be open!
What do you love about it?
Despite the constraints, this type of work does offer endless possibilities. As mentioned earlier, size, shape, direction, dimension, thickness are different parameters I can play with. Constraints never scare or discourage me, instead they challenge me and allow to be more creative, generating new outcomes. And I have not even used colors yet!
I also very much enjoy the fact that I am using a material that would otherwise most probably be discarded. Having to deal with what I have is also a great creativity enhancer!
Of course, what I enjoy beyond all in this type of hand work (just like any work where hands are involved) is that I quickly get in a state of flow. My mind wanders, it is extremely meditative and soothing. Alternatively, I often listen to podcasts as I am a great radio fan and have many episodes to listen to with never enough time.
Also, it is a very tangible, real work: as time goes by, it almost magically comes to life. And if it works, it shows quickly. If it doesn't too! If what I had in mind doesn't come through, I can just untangle the knots and start over!
What are they about? What do you want to express?
Beauty is an immense drive in my everyday life. I am very lucky to now live in the countryside of the Marche region in central Italy, filled with a lot of beauty around, both natural and cultural. All this beauty around makes me strive for extra beauty at home.
Also, I regularly get to go to beautiful cities like Paris, Lyon or Turin and I never miss a chance to visit one or more exhibitions. I am definitely influenced by modern abstract art and very much drawn to geometric shapes just like in my surface pattern making activity. It helps that the structure itself is made of squares! But how to make round shapes out of a square base? Squares naturally become large size 3d pixels and there is infinite room to play.
I am not a conceptual person and it is hard for me to say what lies behind these works. One sure thing is that I hope the final piece attracts one's attention and curiosity. I love that seen from a different perspective, either from afar or at close sight, each work seems almost like a different piece. I wonder what story unfolds in the viewer's head as one gets closer, what emotions come through.
So far white on white can make a very subtle result, nothing obvious or ostentatious and I like that very much too. Being an introvert this fits me very well!
Textile, creativity and geometry all in one, I have definitely found a piece of heaven!
PAPER SERIES
