Nieves Carrasco

As an artist, I have experimented with a diversity of techniques: drawing, painting, printing, dyeing, weaving and collage. Every few years though, I am compelled to return to weaving. This ancient technique continues to captivate me. By intersecting warp and weft, a pliable plane emerges, row by row, right in front of me where nothing existed before. It is magic.

While the warp has structural constraints, almost any material can be used for the weft, including paper. Having used washi (handmade Japanese paper) in my work over the last few years, I was tempted to bring the universe of drawing into weaving through this material, which has unique textile qualities. My journey starts at the drawing board as I apply line, wash, and print in ink to washi and ends as the final composition is assembled, row by row at the loom. As fine strips of washi are woven, they are held in place by the warp threads. The cloth that emerges is both a textile and a drawing, with the loom repositioning the ink markings into new and unexpected imagery.