Digital Weaving Norway’s Training Workshop: August 2022

by admin

Apart from the fact that we are always enthusiastic about sharing knowledge about weaving in general and the TC2 loom in particular, we absolutely love to establish a personal relationship with fellow weavers/ artists/ designers. And what better way to do that than to invite people over to Norway? In what was a first after the Corona travel restrictions were lifted, we hosted a training workshop for three extremely talented artists, all of who traveled to us all the way from the US! We asked them to pen a little snippet about their experience with us and also share pictures of what they wove. Read on 🙂

Nancy Giesberger writes…

After many years as a designer of jacquard upholstery, and a lifetime of handweaving, here finally is the tool I have always needed to make textile art.  A new world is open to me now, free of the restrictions of repeating geometry, and the need to consider the equipment before developing a concept. I am still on a high after a remarkable two-week workshop in Hønefoss with Vibeke, getting to know the astonishing TC2 loom.

I arrived as a TC2 newbie, and encountered a number of challenges and mistakes – always the fastest way to learn! With only three participants, we all had a lot of valuable attention from Vibeke, who is a superb teacher, and cheerleader. This pictures of two woven pieces (seen above) are of my husband, who is not Jay Leno.  He just looks that way because I was beating too gently when weaving his chin.

My second effort (first picture from left)) was taken from a photo of mine of a Luis Barragan (Mexican architect) interior. His architectural passion was playing with natural light in simple interiors; my interest is the play of light and light reflective surfaces.  The filling here is copper-colored rayon raffia on a black warp, using 5 weaves. The third piece I did is my favorite (second picture from left).  It is full width (15”) and is about 6′ long. The image is from a photograph I took of sunshine on water, using 7 satin weaves.  But the fun part was using light reflective Metlon yarn, silver gimp, and transparent tape for filling. It shimmers in even light, but flares when a spotlight is introduced.  Just the effect I was after! The last picture (on the right), is a small last minute experiment (copper raffia again) which may turn into something eventually. I send thanks and everlasting gratitude for this life-changing experience!

Sarah Rosalena writes…

My name is Sarah Rosalena and I’m an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. I came to the workshop after receiving the Creative Capital Award in 2022 and purchased a TC2 loom for my studio. I am currently working on a large textile and beadwork exhibition with LACMA and Mount Wilson Observatory in May 2023. I’ve been following Vibeke Vestby’s work, especially as a tool maker and inventor. I am Assistant Professor of Art in Computational Craft at UC Santa Barbara. Coming to Digital Weaving Norway was more than I ever expected, providing a unique opportunity to learn from the creator herself.

For my week residency, I prepared samples for my upcoming show Standard Candle. The show rethinks astronomical observatory instrumentation through feminist and decolonial perspectives by using digital weaving to reinterpret telescopic images in textile form. At Mount Wilson, women were hired to process data from starlight and referred to as “computers”. The show weaves data collected by these unrecognized “computer” laborers as woven form through space and time, imaging historical observations of celestial places captured now obscured by light pollution.

Meagan Smith writes…

Spending my summer in Norway for three months allowed me to dive deeper into technical and conceptual aspects of my work. I had more time to experiment with new weave structures at DWN and learned how to properly back my weavings using double-weave and primarily weft-faced structures. I also learned how to thread a 12 module, 4 wide loom and warp it with 10 yards of painted warp! Some of my newer complex structures are seen in the photo above, which is an undulating twill combined with a straight twill using three weft insertions. I used this pattern to help create more textural variation and emphasize the movement of these pronounced waves.

In my current body of work, the wave remains a continuous theme and I became more inspired by this in Norway, particularly the Hardanger fjord which I spent six weeks lounging near and swimming in. The wave is a metaphor for seeing change, progress, movement, and transformation happening around me. I challenge traditional weave structures by distorting them in the virtual realm making them become more flexible, shifty, and glitchy. These weavings reflect a new wave of conditions I am exposed to every day, where structures seem smoothly balanced yet broken and inverted. I’m using technology and weaving to understand how physical structures and digitalized environments can create a specific atmosphere that surrounds us.

Meagan Smith is an interdisciplinary fiber artist that lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. She competed in the sport of swimming for many years and this marked the beginning of a path and language that she easily understood, ultimately leading her to focus in craft. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from The University of Akron in fall 2015 and received her Masters in Fine Arts in Textiles in spring 2021.

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