For some years now I have been creating objects that tell stories that are the common thread to bring together the past, present and future of people through wool.
An artistic proposal in some cases and functional in others that serves as a reflection and dissemination of the world of sheep and the raw material we are dealing with: our wool, with a theme of the culture and tradition of the Basque Country where I live. This is a way of transmitting this heritage to everyday life today.
In the creative processes I try to combine techniques and tools: traditional ones such as felting-embroidery-fabric made with my hands and digital ones such as design, laser cutting and engraving, moulding and 3D printing, etc. Seeking a balance between tradition and the contemporary.
In this research and decision to renew traditional techniques, I develop a series of works in which I use the "tufting technique" or "hooking" to make carpets and tapestries whose origins date back to 1840, and which has come down to the present day through different processes of evolution: simple hand tools that have given way to simple electric machines operated by hand until reaching the digital stage with the machine anchored to a metal structure where it slides over the textile surface controlled by a computer that provides the orders for the execution of the design that has previously been entered into the appropriate programme.
It is thought to have originated in England, reusing waste yarns from textile mills. It was a way for poorer people to make carpets for their own use. This practice spread to the United States and Canada with immigration.
The origin of this technique is in the Hook and in the search for improvements and more speed the hollow needle with a hole appears, what we call Punch. A large number of tools and manual models were developed that allowed mechanising and speeding up the work from this hollow needle with a hole. The result is the insertion of the material (wool or textile strips) in the form of a loop, without a knot, which can then be cut, called tufter.
This research has allowed me to broaden the techniques in my work. Incorporating this technique allows me to integrate wool in another superior state of fibre processing. The spun wool with its colours, shades and thicknesses offers good creative perspectives.
E1, E2, E3 and E4, 2022
Materials: carranzana wool, industrial textile backing, jute textile backing
Technique: tufting and punch
Size:
45 x 45 cm.
Work presented and exhibited in:
BESTIARIUM, Centro Santo Domingo Exhibition Hall, Pedraza, Segovia, 12-15 May 2023
The top pieces have participated in the edition of Madrid Craft Week from 11 to 20 November 2022. An initiative of the ACTM where 12 textile creators exhibit their work in 12 shop windows in the Barrio de las Letras.
Reverso. Aplicación del adhesivo
Reverse side. Adhesive application
Lanas, razas autóctonas de Euskal Herria
Wool, native breeds of the Euskal Herria
Anverso, piezas fuera del bastidor
Front side, parts outside the frame