“Gangsei’s tapestry, Burning Bush, immediately struck me as exceptional. Not only is it a visually beautiful piece through its coherent unity of design and color, itself remarkable within its textile medium, it is also a very impressive and complex presentation of the biblical reference to Moses’ burning bush.’’
- Jim Kane
My Personal and Artistic Journey
I believe that life is a sacred journey. It is a gift that should be cherished and lived deeply.
My new series, “The Sacred Journey of Aging,” explores the passage of growing old. Old age is another life passage, just like adolescence and midlife. Getting older is paradoxical with its rewards and losses, and the feelings of both gratitude and grief. We need to be in it, ponder it, and hopefully come to a place of acceptance and celebration.
Although women and men both go through this passage, I believe that it is more challenging for women given the beauty standards and role models that our culture hold as ideal. Wrinkles and grey hair are to be touched up as women age; men look distinguished. Men can grow in power and value with added years, while a woman more often loses the attributes that give her value in the eyes of society. That is why my images are all female. I want to use tapestry to feature the beauty, strength, and wisdom of older women.
I started weaving tapestries 18 years ago and found that I enjoyed designing the tapestry as much, if not more, than I did the weaving. The images became a creative way for me to share the essence of what was going on in my life. The process of weaving is meditative for me and something that brings calm and perspective back into my life as I journey through it.
Bio
Susan is a fiber artist using hand woven tapestry as her medium She has exhibited nationally in numerous solo and group shows in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, California, and Massachusetts. She has been artist-in-residence at the North Suburban Center for the Arts, the Sower Gallery and the Trinidad History Museum. Her latest work was shown in the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The Creation of a Tapestry – A Labor of Love
A tapestry starts as a drawing on a large sheet of paper on the wall. I come to the drawing with an image that represents a theme or message that I want to convey about the human experience. I can get inspiration from nature, a symbol, or another piece of art. I work to the scale that I will weave.
From this drawing I create a cartoon. This is the “pattern” that is hung behind the loom and guides the weaving – much like painting by numbers. When the image and shapes are finalized, I do a color study to determine what colors I want to use and where. Then I code the cartoon, each shape in the image is labeled with a color and weaving technique code. Although I can change things as I weave, I typically follow the cartoon and coding closely.
I warp (or string) the loom with cotton that is strong and takes a lot of tension. Each warp end is tied to the top beam of the loom, spaced, and tied to the bottom beam. These vertical warp ends are what I weave the weft or yarn in and out of. Most of my work is done with 8 or 10 warp ends per inch. I use a combination of wool and pearl cotton for my yarn or weft.
I use a combination of weaving techniques. I have been trained in classic European techniques that blend colors and rows of colors to create a more “painterly” image. I have also been trained in Peruvian techniques that add texture to the surface of the fabric.
The time that it takes to weave a tapestry varies on the complexity and size of each piece. A “typical” 2’ by 2’ piece will take about 30 hours to design and get it to a final cartoon. It will take about 100 hours to weave and another 7 hours to hem and mount the piece to hang.
Tapestry is a labor of love, in both time and heart.