Art and Design Commons^™

Table Of Contents

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Organized Sessions and Presentations

Pre-Symposium Event: Writing with Thread Colloquium

Microcosm of a Textile World: A Close Examination of Material Culture of the Miao People in Guizhou, China

Old Fabrics, Scented Textiles, Changing Values

Mediation and Negotiation of Textiles

Emblematic Power of Textiles

Archaeological Textiles

Beyond the Tradition: Extraordinary Textiles from the Southern Andes, Peru, Bolivia, Chile

Development and Tradition

Notes from Uzbekistan

Textiles and Identity

Walking A Line: Gps And Satellite Technologies As Narratives, Ruth Scheuing

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Introduction

Over the last year I have been using a GPS (Global Positioning System) device to track my trips as drawings and a personal narrative. These lines form patterns with many variations. My recent Jacquard weavings were records of satellite images of the earth, received through the process of ‘remote sensing’, performed by a machine, instructed in this task. This presentation will briefly describe GPS and satellite technologies and discuss how these different ideas link up with my earlier work as an artist.

Walking as a conceptual practice has an interesting history. It deals with a process rather than a …

Textile Society Of America Newsletter 20:1 — Winter 2008, Textile Society Of America

Textile Society of America: Newsletters

Hawaii's Textile Resources Featured at Site Seminars, 11th TSA Biennial Symposium, Honolulu, Hawaii, September 24–27
President's Letter
TSA News
TSA Member News
Visual Language of Cloth: Commemorative Handkerchiefs
Pre-Symposium Colloquium, Post-Symposium Tour
Publications News
Featured Collection: Hidden Textile Treasures at the Armenian Museum and Library, Watertown, Massachusetts
Collections News
Exhibition Reviews
Calendar-Exhibitions
Calendar-Virtual, Lectures, Workshops, Tours
Conferences & Symposia
Employment

Flow, Sharon L. Kennedy

Sheldon Museum of Art: Catalogs and Publications

Symbolizing purity, sustenance, tranquility, power, movement, and continuity, water is a source of life as well as destruction and death. Its surface serves as a metaphor for self-reflection and contemplation. It flows over cultural and physical boundaries. Water is indispensable to human survival, yet many take it for granted. We pollute it, misuse it, and fight over it. It is easily accessible to some while nearly out of reach to others. Flow explores the theme of water as subject and symbol, natural wonder, recreational resource, and environmental concern.

Artists with an affinity toward nature, especially landscape painters, chose water as …

Metaphors Of The Heart, Sharon L. Kennedy

Sheldon Museum of Art: Catalogs and Publications

The images in Metaphors of the Heart are the creations of impassioned photographer Luis Gonzalez Palma. The Mayan and Mestizo subjects of Palma's portraits radiate beauty and spiritual strength and at the same time an intense sorrow that tugs at the heartstrings. His photographs of empty rooms are lonely yet elegantly dignified spaces. For the viewer, the emotional connection is immediate.

Palma's life in Latin America, a place rich in cultural heritage and political struggles, and his Catholic upbringing might explain his desire and perhaps also his need to express these dualities in his photographs. Palma was born in Guatemala …

The Purpose Of Labor, Robert Silberman

Sheldon Museum of Art: Catalogs and Publications

For Gail Kendall, in decoration there is delight. No subscriber to the modernist dogma expressed by the architect Alfred Loos - that "ornament is crime"Kendall covers surfaces with eye-opening designs. Instead of the streamlined forms and unadorned austerity of high modernism, Kendall complements subtle washes or spots of color and delicate linear tracings with an unrelenting dot mania and frequent use of gold. The dots, sometimes only tiny specks, enliven the surfaces while demonstrating the expressive possibilities of even the simplest mark. The gold, far from indicating kitsch luxury, offers a reminder of the unique visual quality of gold's magical, …

Omoshirogara Textile Design And Children’S Clothing In Japan 1910-1930, Jacqueline M. Atkins

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Textiles provide excellent visual canvases for the presentation of new cultural values and ideas, and the traditional clothing of Japan, which encompasses a kimono’s individuality in its surface design, offers an ideal example. The early 20th century in Japan was a culturally and technologically expansive period in which changing societal trends and mores were reflected in textile designs that presented a visual compendium of the ‘modern.’ These designs, termed omoshirogara (interesting designs), mirrored contemporary popular culture and captured the essence of a rapidly modernizing country.

These dramatic textile designs appeared in adult kimono, but the range of designs for children—especially …

Claudy Jongstra: Transmitting Craft Heritage Through Contemporary Architecture, Susan Brown

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

“.. textiles, so often no more than an afterthought in planning, might take a place again as a contributing thought.”

When Anni Albers wrote “The Pliable Plane” in 1957, she expressed a vision for an integrated, rather than decorative, role for textiles in architecture. Dutch felt artist Claudy Jongstra has realized that goal. In the past five years, Jongstra has created works for some of Holland’s most important public buildings: The Hague, the Amsterdam Public Library, the Rotterdam Kunsthal, The Lloyd Hotel and Cultural Center, and the Nijverdal City Hall and Cultural Center all prominently feature her felts, not as …

The Colour Of Women’S Culture: Natural Dyeing As Self-Expression In America, Japan, Norway And Australia, Karen Diadick Casselman

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Natural dyes are front and centre in academic and craft circles. The resurgence of attention is due to several factors. One is the popularity of natural dyes among European archaeologists and chemists who rely on dyes as an analytical tool for dating textiles. Scholars worldwide have developed a deeper cultural context for early textiles by studying dye origins, horticulture, early dye technology, and ancient trade in dyestuffs. Gender is now a prominent theme, as are ethical considerations, ecology, ethnicity, and aesthetics. Dyes have surmounted the art/craft debate because their postmodern applications encompass many disciplines. From agriculture to zoology, natural dyes …

Chinchorro Twined Shrouds, Vicki Cassman, Nancy Odegaard, Bernardo Arriaza

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The first inhabitants of the South Central Andes arrived to the Pacific coast of what is now Northern Chile and Southern Peru about 8000 BC. The early Chinchorro were fisher-hunter-gatherers that made use of two media for their artistic expressions, their own bodies and large canvases made from twined reeds and sedges. Mats and textiles were used for a variety of domestic and personal uses, including shelter, packaging and shrouding the dead. It is likely they were used as blankets for the living as well. The textile shrouds and stylistic mummification techniques employed by the Chinchorro culture predate pottery, agriculture …

Meanings And Messages: Quilts To Comfort The Families Of America’S Fallen In The Afghanistan And Iraq Wars, Jonathan Gregory

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Beginning in 2003, grassroots quiltmaking projects were founded in the United States in response to the deaths of American soldiers in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. The author conducted an oral history project involving the founders of three of these quiltmaking projects and other quiltmakers who were active within them in order to understand the meanings of making and giving quilts and the meanings of the quilts themselves.

Two primary sites of meaning were identified in the study: 1) the internal motivations that inspired quiltmakers to begin and continue participation in a project; and 2) the textual, symbolic, and personal …

Dress Of The Lolo, Pathen, Hmong And Yao Of Northern Vietnam In 2005-2006: Reflections Of Cultural Continuity And Change, Serena Lee Harrigan

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Many of the approximately 30 ethnic minority groups living in northern Vietnam continue to wear daily a traditional dress that communicates their cultural identity and links them to generations of history. Based on field studies conducted in villages in 1999, 2005, and 2006, this paper discusses the dress of the Lolo, Pathen, Hmong, and Yao who live in the northernmost areas of Vietnam where travel remains restricted. Connecting textiles with ancient beliefs and practices, these studies document the continued use of: a memorial display of clothing along with ancestral drums during Black Lolo funeral rites; the celestial crown of the …

Perfumed Textiles, Katia Johansen

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

As a museum professional, I work with memories. And nothing is more evocative than scent, which is both fragile and powerful. Perfumed textiles and costume are a standard part of every culture, yet few have been identified, and virtually none have been preserved. Perfuming was traditionally used to mask malodors from use or from production processes like tanning and dyeing, for ceremonial reasons, or simply to create a favorable impression of the wearer. Perfuming methods included using incense, laundry aids, sweet bags and fuming pans. Unintentional perfuming also occurred, of which we sometimes get a whiff in our museum collections. …

Iowa Or Dye! Natural Dyes As American Craft And Horticulture, Sara J. Kadolph

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Cultural expression reflects the multi-dimensional environment in which an individual lives and works. Art and craft function as technologies within that environment. The materials used say who we are, and how we think and feel. The use of natural dyes expresses philosophy and intent. In my case, renewable resources (natural dyes) used in my art work connect me to horticulture. I grow many of the natural dyes I use and sell both dye seeds and goods dyed with Iowa-grown and exotic natural dyes. Using natural dyes also connects a dyer to the past and future. The historical connection occurs as …

Black Silk, Brown Silk: China And Beyond—Traditional Practice Meets Fashion, Abby Lillethun

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This one-hour discussion panel will examine bi-colored black and brown silk textiles called chiao-chou and shiang-yin-sa, (a.k.a. black gummed silk, Canton silk, cloud perfumed silk, gambiered silk, and by other names). Little known in the West, these textiles express cultural identities associated with a specific geographic locals where the required mud treatment can take place. Thus, the textiles have primarily been made in southern China in Guangdong province and in Southeast Asia in Thailand and Vietnam where Chinese immigration occurred. Since their heyday during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), they faded from use. The panel first contextualizes the textiles and the …

Analysis Of Two Chinese Canton Silks: Jiāo-Chou And Xiang-Yun-Shā, Shuhwa Lin

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This one-hour discussion panel will examine bi-colored black and brown silk textiles called chiao-chou and shiang-yin-sa, (a.k.a. black gummed silk, Canton silk, cloud perfumed silk, gambiered silk, and by other names). Little known in the West, these textiles express cultural identities associated with a specific geographic locals

Weaving Cloth From Tosa-Washi (Japanese Paper From Kochi In Shikoku, Japan): Connection And Expansion Of Area And People, Yuka Matsumoto

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The purpose of this paper is to make clear the socio-cultural meanings of woven textiles through a case study of making textiles from Tosa-washi which was already being made in Kochi in the 10th century involving two textile craftswomen of two different generations. Mey Kusakawa (1933-) and Yuko Isozaki (1978-) create paper textiles with the underlying meaning and rationale of recycling used paper and thrift long ago. From activities of these two textile craftswomen in modern times, it is clear that the change from paper to cloth has a role which connects areas and people, and brings independence and a …

Warp The Loom – Wrap The Dead Trapezoid Shaped Textiles From The Chiribaya Culture, South Peru, Ad 900-1375, Wynne Minkes

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Central in this presentation will be a trapezoidal shaped tunic and loincloth from the site La Cruz, Osmore Valley, in the extreme south of Peru. Their specific features allowed their identification to the Chiribaya culture, a poorly known culture from the Later Intermediate Period (950-1350 AD). The tunic's form was the result of inserting discontinuous warps, whereas the loincloth's shape had been achieved by varying the length of the warps on the loom. Reconstruction of both techniques was made possible by Minkes ethnographic studies in adjacent Aymara and Quechua highland communities (2000), where weaving is still considered the most important …

The String Or Grass Skirt; An Ancient Garment In The Southern Andes, Amy Oakland

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The string or grass skirt appears among the earliest known garments in the Southern Andes. Archaeologists discovered the skirts wrapped around Chinchorro ancestor figures in burials near the Pacific coast of North Chile dating to 8000 B.C. The Chinchorro people’s mummified ancestors included specific gender traits so it is clear that they wanted to identify the skirts as a female garment. Chinchorro men were equipped with leather loincloths and both apparently used twinned grass mantles, blankets, or mats.

Through time, these coastal Andeans developed an elaborate dress with enormous string turbans and pelican-skin capes, however the string skirt remained the …

Black Silk, Brown Silk: China And Beyond—Fabric Analysis, Margaret T. Ordoñez

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This one-hour discussion panel will examine bi-colored black and brown silk textiles called chiao-chou and shiang-yin-sa, (a.k.a. black gummed silk, Canton silk, cloud perfumed silk, gambiered silk, and by other names). Little known in the West, these textiles express cultural identities associated with a specific geographic locals

Mending As Metaphor: Contemporary Fiber And Cultural Change, Mary Babcock

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

My vision in curating the exhibition of which I speak, “Tattered Cultures: Mended Histories” in conjunction with this 11^th Textile of America Symposium is to reveal “mending” as a potent metaphor for cultural enrichment and transformation. The work reminds us to honor textiles as living — not historical— research tools, and to invites us to continue to locate contemporary concerns with issues of marginalization, colonialism and social justice as an essential discourse within textile arts.

Crochet Lace As Expression Of Digital Culture, Gail Kenning

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Human designed, physical textile patterns such as lace are familiar in our everyday lives and the historical, geographic and cultural significance of these patterns, and their aesthetic and/or mathematical characteristics, have been extensively investigated and documented. However, their evolutionary potential remains under-theorized. While the digital environment is increasingly used as a design aid in the production of textiles, its potential for exploring the evolutionary possibilities for lace has not been fully investigated. This paper discusses an experimental research art project that explored the evolutionary potential for lace patterns within the digital environment.

Human designed, hand-made domestically produced physical textile patterns …

Donning The Cloak: Safavid Figural Silks And The Display Of Identity, Nazanin Hedayat Shenasa, Nazanin Hedayat Munroe

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This study examines the function of figural silk textiles from Safavid Iran (1501-1722) as visual transmitters of identity. Textile historians and connoisseurs have admired figural silks for the technically advanced weave structures, delicate textures and brilliant colors, but the narrative motifs featured in a sub-genre of these compositions set them apart from other luxury textiles. The emphasis of this study will be on scenes depicting events and characters from Iranian poet Nizami’s twelfth century epic poem, Layla and Majnun.

The appeal of narrative textiles among the Safavid elite will be analyzed in relation to political and religious conditions that propagated …

Kākahu As Cultural Identity, Christina Hurihia Wirihana

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

As Maori, we recognise ourselves as Tangatawhenua, literally meaning people of the land. We acknowledge our Earth Mother, Papatuanuku and Sky Father, Ranginui as the kaitiaki, guardians of our natural world. The natural fibres of Harakeke, commonly known as NZ Flax, was the most extensively used fibres in the production of traditional clothing, fishing nets, lashing, baskets and other functional forms that contributed to the survival of my people. The medicinal values of Harakeke also played a major role. The process of extracting the fibres (muka) from Harakeke continues today as it did many many years ago. The humble kuku, …

The Centre For Advanced Textiles: A Case Study In Uk Digital Textile Culture, Eulanda A. Sanders

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

If textiles serve as records of a culture’s history and values, how should we approach and evaluate the integration of digitally-created and digitally-produced textiles? How do the application of digital technologies encourage or inhibit cultural expressions?

Government and academic institutions in the United Kingdom (UK) are actively trying to support and invigorate what is being called the ‘research culture’ in the UK, yet the ability to create and maintain sustainable research centres in the creative textile fields have proven to be difficult. Through reflectively analysing the creation, re-evaluation and re-focusing of the Centre for Advanced Textiles (CAT) at Glasgow School …

Meanings And Messages: Quilts To Comfort The Families, Jonathan Gregory

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Introduction During the American Civil War, 1861-1865, women from the northern states made at least 250,000 quilts to supply bedding to the Union Army in the field and in military hospitals through the aegis of the U. S. Sanitary Commission. Southern women carried on similar types of relief work for the Confederate Army, though with far fewer resources to draw upon. Hundreds of red and white quilts were made as fundraisers for the American Red Cross during the First World War. And Mennonite and Mormon women from Canada and the U.S. made and shipped thousands of quilts in a massive …

Warp The Loom – Wrap The Dead Trapezoid Shaped Textiles From The Chiribaya Culture, South Peru, Ad 900-1375, Wynne Minkes

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Trapezoid shaped garments are not common in the Andean Pre-Columbian cultures. Generally, men and women wore sleeveless tunics made from the whole woven fabric without cutting and sewing it into any shape as did the Europeans for instance. The lengths of these tunics ranged from chest to ankle. Often the shorter tunics were complemented by loincloths or skirts. The number of fabrics needed to make these garments would vary: one web folded in half or two or more webs sown together. The warps were hardly ever cut from the loom bar and wefts would be inserted up to the heading …

Ethnicity Mobility And Status – Textiles From The Taklamakan Desert, Helen Persson

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin is now within the boundaries of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Taklamakan is one of the largest sandy deserts in the world and covers an area of 270,000 km2. It is bounded by Kunlun Mountains to the south, Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan to the west and north. Life-giving water from the mountains forms rivers and lakes and hence creating lush oasis on the borders of the desert. Neolithic stone tools show that humans have long been present in the area. Branches of trade routes, later known …

Traditional Textile Materials Of Baekje Kingdom, Mi Young Suh, Kil Soon Park

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This analysis includes the kinds, colors, and patterns of textile materials, and shows Baekje attained a high level of weaving culture. Baekje was one of three kingdoms of ancient Korea (B.C.18-A.D.660). The territory of Baekje (Fig. 1) was included current Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheongnambuk-do and Jeollanambuk-do during the fourth century. Also, Baekje influenced Japan many things about textiles including weaving technique. The study analyzed the documentary records of Baekje, such as literature, historical works, excavation reports, and preceding studies.

The kinds of the textile materials of Mahan, pre-country of Baekje, and Baekje were obtained from historical documentations. The textile materials …

Crochet Lace As Expression Of Digital Culture, Gail Kenning

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Introduction

Human designed physical patterns, while having been investigated extensively in terms of their historical, geographic and cultural significance and their aesthetic and/or mathematical characteristics, have not been fully investigated in terms of their evolutionary potential. This paper discusses an experimental art research project which focuses on human designed, physical textile patterns to explore pattern as process and investigate the potential for these patterns to evolve and become emergent.

The experimental art projects focused on lace and in particular, crochet lace pattern forms commonly referred to as doilies.1 Crochet lace patterns are widely recognized, domestically produced hand-made physical patterns …