ARCHIVE: DANCING LIGHTS
Submitted image (click to enlarge): Dancing Lights.
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Submission title: Dancing Lights
Submitted by: Kelly Thompson Participant’s field of work/interest: Fibre Artist and Professor Participant’s Image Description: "Digital photograph of a container ship’s radar tracker, which captures data. The slow shutter speed resulted in a doubled image, with streams of light dancing across the surface." Translated and woven by Sophia Borowska. |
Pointcarré weaving simulation (click to enlarge).
Translation to Weaving
The threads of light in the image
immediately made me think of fringe, and the multiple colours in localized
areas led me to choose a brocade strategy. The weaving translates the camera’s
original movement while the shutter was open, into physical threads that have a
movement of their own.
-Sophia Original Dimensions: 2048 × 1536 pixels |
Weaving structures - click to access full set of structures - available to WDRG members only.
Technique and Process Notes
Though beginning with the idea of a brocade, I had to reverse the typical process so as to have the excess thread as a fringe on the front rather than the back. I designed the file with a black and white weft, to have distinct white areas, and three brocade wefts, with several shades of satin each. In complex brocaded areas, the black background weft was unable to pack down as thickly. The excess weft was trimmed to a pile, and some areas of long fringe were left to mimic the original image.
-Sophia Threads Used: Warp is white 2/16 mercerized cotton. Wefts are black and white 2/16 mercerized cotton, blue and light green 2/8 cotton, and red 2/8 mercerized pearl cotton. |
Colour reduction for weaving design (click to enlarge).
Outcome Notes
The results of this process are somewhat more
chaotic-looking than the submitted image, and I might come up with a different
approach if I were to repeat the experiment. The thick, short pile bears little
resemblance to long, thin strands of the image. I also question whether the
white weft was necessary as it only appears in small areas, but without it the
cloth may have been to flimsy to support the brocades. The finished surface has
a great potential for movement and viewers may be drawn to touch or blow on the
pile. In doing so, different surfaces and textures are revealed and hidden.
-Sophia Number of Picks: 2012 Woven Dimensions: 20” x 9.5” Weaving Density: 211 ppi (varies throughout due to brocades) |
Images of Final Woven Samples
FRONT (click to enlarge).