joseph scissorhands: Struktur

Struktur
(copper leaf version)

“In ancient myths from many parts of the world it was a goddess, a female deity, who brought the invention of weaving to mankind. When we realise that weaving is primarily a process of structural organisation this is startling, for today thinking in terms of structure seems closer to the inclination of men than women.”- Anni Albers.

Anni Albers - Untitled, 1926

These new Struktur works of mine are an homage to the women weavers of the Bauhaus workshops. For this latest body of work I was looking for a way of bringing about a different kind of order and structure very much based on a grid system.

Lineate, (silver leaf)

I had already tried this with pieces such as Lineate and Cipher, but wanted to do something more complicated structurally with an enhanced sense of pattern and rhythm. I investigated the works of certain painters well known for adopting and subverting grid systems in their works like Paul Klee, Agnes Martin, Piet Mondrian and Ad Reinhardt. Their artworks certainly have a particular rhythm to them, and the artists a certain mindset and a rigourous discipline to work in this way. I then began thinking about other artistic disciplines that utilise grid systems. Regular readers will know how much I enjoy textiles, and applying the processes of stitch into certain pieces of my work. I thought that perhaps one of the most rigorous ways of creating artwork through a grid system historically is to work through a loom when weaving.

I've been reading a great book - Bauhaus Textiles: Women Artists and the Weaving Workshop, which tells the story of the development of the weaving workshop, and how women were assigned to it rather than the other artistic disciplines of the school. It was a surprise that such a forward thinking, progressive institution should segregate and stifle women's artistic ambitions in this way, in spite of how gifted they were, or what abilities they brought to the Bauhaus. Still, art's loss was textiles gain, as the book also demonstrates how a discipline usually relegated to the status of craft, was elevated to a genuine artform by these women. Although the loom's grid can create some very strictly geometric images, certain weavers who know their craft really understand how to exploit the strictures of the loom and as a result create works with softer more rounder forms, as well as the harder edged geometric designs traditionally associated with weaving. The women weavers of the Bauhaus created some marvellous textiles, peerless fusions of colour and thread. The works of Anni Albers, Ruth Hollós, and Gunta Stölzl are particular favourites. I was familiar with some of Albers' designs from a 2014 exhibition at Somerset House (here). The maze/Greek key-like Meander rug is still a firm favourite.

Anni Albers - Red Meander rug, 1954

Gunta Stölzl - Design for a wall hanging

Ruth Hollós - Tapestry, 1926

Using a series of grid systems of my own devising I began to layout blocks of colour and the butterfly shapes I wanted to use. As this Struktur series was based on textile works, I was eager to employ textile techniques to the finished pieces. Although I could never hope to achieve the complexities of what the women weavers of the Bauhaus did with fibre and loom, I experimented with paper weaving techniques that I used formerly with my students, stitching into paper, and creating warp and weft with these and strips of gilded paper. Unfortunately I felt that though the woven paper experiments were interesting, the papers I used to weave were too thick for the finished artworks and so relegated them to my sketchbook. Still eager to use a textile technique in the finished pieces, I employed my tried and tested stitching, creating linear and geometric forms, which I think still gives the series some authenticity in referencing their Bauhaus inspiration.

Paper-weaving experiments

Each Struktur piece contains a different configuration of butterflies and decorative geometric elements. The Struktur series are available in gold, silver and copper leaf versions. They measure 50cm x 50cm framed. For enquiries about these pieces contact myself directly, or Cambridge Contemporary Art or The Rowley Gallery. I like the way the metallic leaf grounds reflect the butterflies sitting on top of them. I am currently working on colour versions using my signature spotty coloured papers and threads. There are people who have taken past designs of mine and quite happily copied them, passing them off as their own work. In order to protect these various new series of works created this year I have found it necessary to join an artists copyright agency. Imitators beware. Copy any of my new works and action will be taken!