Peruvian Textile Art

A little while ago I read a wonderful travel report from Diane Dorrans Saeks in her blog The Style Saloniste about Peru. And that reminded me of the wonderful textile art you can find in the Andes countries.

Especially the weavers of today can look onto an ancient tradition, dating back up to 4000 years. The oldest textiles were found at the pre-Columbian temple of Huaca Prieta in the Chicama Valley. The materials used then were brown and white cotton, vicuña, alpaca and llama wool. Sometimes materials such as human hair and bat fibers were included, more often gold and silver thread. Main weaving locations are Cuzco, Lima, Ayacucho, Puno, Junin and Apurimac. The colourful decorative works of today are often dyed with industrial dyes although natural dyes are still used as well or rather again by artists.

  image source

On the website of a shamanic center I found the following two examples of peruvian textile art. Unfortunately I could not find any information about these pieces but I love the patterns as well as the colours...

image source

I am sure when people mention ancient Peruvian art they think of those incredible gold treasures first place which have been found in a country that can be proud of so many cultures and incredible works of art and craft. These treasures have made the country extremely vulnerable against looters and thieves and only since a few years "Peru has moved aggressively in recent years to reclaim works of its early cultures that have ended up abroad not to mention "private collections" where the artefacts unfortunately will be lost to the public and scientific research. In November last year, a final batch of thousands of artifacts from the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu were returned to Peru from Yale University." (read more)

image source


Between 600 and 1000, long before the Inca, the Wari (Huari) founded a society widely regarded today as ancient Peru's first empire. Wari became dominant in much of the territory of the earlier Moche and later Chimu cultures. Their textile art is beautiful.

image source
 

image source

One of the most extraordinary masterpieces of the pre-Columbian Americas is a nearly 2,000-year-old cloth from the South Coast of Peru.
Despite the textile's small size (it measures about two by five feet), it contains a vast amount of information about the people who lived in ancient Peru; and despite its great age and delicacy, its colors are brilliant, and tiny details amazingly intact. (after The Paracas Textile).

The following images are from the website of the Khanacademy and show incredible workmanship that rather seems to belong into "modern times" rather than from 2000 years ago...

image source

On the above website you can find a fascinating explanation how this mantle has been created. There is a very special technique involved how the figures of the border have been created - crossed-looping. A diagram shows how this has been accomplished. The result looks nearly like knitting. Imagine that this example (The Paracas Textile) of unbelievable textile art is about 2000 years old.

Another breathtaking example from the Paracas culture is this mantle (normally used for wrapping up mummies in bundles):

image source from Wikipedia


But the first reason for all these introductions into Peruvian Textile art and its thousands of years old tradition is a modern fiber artist - Maximo Laura. His award winning wall hangings are breathtakingly beautiful, full of mysteries and I am sure you will feel the same excitement and enthusiasm when you see his work if you don't know him already. He is an incredibly diligent artist and his works have been shown all-over the world. I can only show very few examples of his wonderful art:

Aire Vital, 20 x 20 cm. Alpaca, cotton, mixed fibers. Peruvian Contemporary Tapestry Art

image source

 Augur of the Harvest Time, 82 x 140 in, Alpaca Wool, Mixed Fibers. 

Handwoven Peruvian Tapestry Art

image source

 Camino Ardiente Hacia la Luz, 47 x 95 in., Alpaca Wool, Mixed Fibers. 

Handwoven Peruvian Tapestry Art

image source

Looking at the Balance of Life, 68 x 124 in., Alpaca Wool, Mixed Fibers. 

Handwoven Peruvian Tapestry Art

image source

 Ritual of the Birth Song, 96 x 48 in, Alpaca Wool, Mixed Fibers. 

Handwoven Peruvian Tapestry Art

image source

The Dream of the Warrior of Light at Dawn, 99 x 48 in, Alpaca Wool, Mixed Fibers. 

Handwoven Peruvian Tapestry Art

 image source

Ritual of the Eternal Chant IV, 280 x 100 cm,  Alpaca wool, mixed fibers. 

Hand-Woven Peruvian Tapestry

image source

Sacred Night, 180 x 250 cm,  Alpaca wool, mixed fibers. 

image source


The following examples can be found on the World of Threads website. And don't forget to read the interview with Maximo there - he talks about his traditional roots, his inspiration, his progress as an artist and much more.
 

Presencia de los Apus en la Jungla, 180 x 278 cm, Hand-woven Tapestry

  image source

 

 

Sacred meeting in the jungle, 176 x 402 cm, Alpaca wool, cotton, mixed fibers. Hand-woven Tapestry

image source

 

Spring of Love, 178 x 258 cm, Alpaca wool, cotton, mixed fibers. Hand-woven Tapestry

image source

~~~

A Silk Painting about a very special Place - Machu Picchu in Peru

As the next post will be about Peruvian textile art I am re-writing this post from a long time ago. Machu Picchu has always been a mysterious and magical place for me and I cannot get enough from listening and watching all sorts of documentations regarding this sacred place. To visit this spot in reality must be an incredible experience where already due to lack of oxygen the sucseptibility to spiritualism probably grows noticably. How could this place leave anyone untouched?

The silk painting Machu Picchu belongs to the Magic Symbols Series. I love the warm colours and the golden ornaments leave a feeling of preciousness. Even if you choose an art print instead of the original it will leave the same feeling as I use to add gold pigments by hand after the printing process to all prints where the original has been painted accordingly with gold metallic pigments.

Machu Picchu is truly a magical place, an archeological site which still holds many secrets. Thousands of tourists undertake each year an incredibly exhausting trip to this place which is not easy to reach as it is hidden high in the mountains of the Andes. 

"Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.
The Incas started building the estate around AD 1400 but it was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Since it was not plundered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas, it is especially important as a cultural site and is considered a sacred place." (from wikipedia)"

Whatever might turn out to be the real purpose of Machu Picchu - there is no doubt that this is a place full of magic and an incredible aura. Until today artefacts are found at this site and may lead to new discoveries.

"Machu Picchu"
40" x 13" 

silk, stitched

The ancient golden ornaments certainly add a special touch to the historical city and dreams about the lost treasures of the Inca people...

 ~~~

Bonjour Tristesse - but not in the Bedroom please!

Please do not get me wrong here - I find this bedroom extremely elegant, stylish and very well designed. All the elements complement each other perfectly. But it looks really depressing. There is something important missing: a piece of colour!

I know - a bedroom should be kept mostly in  "neutral" colours, because it is meant for relaxing, getting a good night sleep, yadayada. But I would not want to sleep in a room with depressing colours such as these. Yes - depressing because that abundance of greys and blacks would rather remind me of a funeral parlour than a bedroom in which I could feel well.

A single piece of bright colour would do the trick: f.e. with this brightly coloured silk scroll, mounted on a simple stretcher frame without the upper and lower part as can be seen in the original scroll (please see below). But check for yourself. It would not change the design of this room but add a tiny bit of life and friendliness, warmth and excitement and keep off depressing feelings...

The original silk scroll was handpainted and additionally quilted with silk thread to add texture and depth.
This kind of scrolls is reminiscent of ancient Chinese or Japanese scroll paintings - their construction yet is completely different and has been developed by myself.

While traditional Japanese and Chinese silk scrolls are made from very thin painted silk, that is glued to paper which again is normally covered by patterned silk, my scrolls consist of 3 layers of fabric and no paper at all.

The middle piece is constructed like a quilt with a layer of very thin batting between the top layer which is the painted silk and the back. Headpiece and footpiece are normally made from silk as well, which has been fused to a thin layer of rayon fabric.

"Desert"
48" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Finally top and bottom part of the scroll are sewn with a narrow tube at the end to be able to push a dowel through the fabric which is used for hanging. But as I said already - top and bottom part could also be removed in order to mount the middle piece on a stretcher frame.

~~~

 

A Bedroom with blank Walls - oh no!!!!!

Now - even if this were only a guestroom - the blank walls would be an "abomination". To be honest - I really don't like overstuffed rooms, especially not bedrooms but this is a bit too minimalistic. Although the bedspread and the little folk art side tables add a certain feeling to this room it still looks bland and cold. Not really inviting. And that's what we normally do with guests - don't we? Unless the unloved mother-in-law is rummaging through the house....

 with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com

I would add some mystery to this room - an apsara face for heavenly dreams, a kirtimukha mask to face off all evil and one of those devine Buddha faces as they can be seen in Cambodia to protect you and keep your soul in perfect harmony:

"Lucky Dragon, Apsara, Buddha"
( from the Angkor's Faces series)
silk carving, 14" x 14" ea.
©Petra Voegtle

I would even add some sheers (very few) loosely draped over the frame of the bed just to match the colours of the silk carvings.

These three faces are the Angkor Faces, Apsara, Lucky Dragon and Buddha, a small series of silk carvings. Faces and Figures of Angkor is a series about the ruins and remnants of the temple area of Angkor Wat. The reliefs are all worked in silk, inspired by carvings in stone. They are a reminiscence of all the unknown artists of the past of whom we have neither memory nor documentation - only their unbelievably beautiful and sophisticated works, works that have survived hundreds of years.

Silk carvings are silk sculptures or reliefs created with a technique that I developped out of the trapunto techniques you can find in quilting. Instead of a single layer of stuffed material it consists out of multiple layers.
These works are all mounted on wooden stretcher frames and can be used as is or additionally framed.

~

Art on (at) the Wall but please not in this Manner...

When a room is prepared for photographing it is normally "staged" - you would not show a mess in your bedroom to the public - would you? Often enough the newly prepared rooms look though as if no-one ever has lived or will live in it because everything is too tidy, too styled - you would not dare to touch anything at all.

On the other hand who would like to see all the personal stuff of the owner in a house you want to buy? Your own imagination would be spoiled. But I do not want to go into details what to do when you want to sell a home or what you could expect when you want to buy a home. There are enough tips to be found on the Internet or you could even contact a professional home staging company.

Here is an example though where the owner of this room was not well advised regarding placing art as a design element. Somewhere in the HGTV channel I read a comment such as "new artwork can make a world of difference when staging a home to sell".  Now this applies of course to a newly designed room also. But look at this example: the pictures are placed loosely on the headboard of the bed, partially covered by the cushions. This does not look good.

As an alternative I would have chosen a real painting or a large fine art print such as this one, mounted in a nice frame. The original of the artwork I have chosen here, is actually a silk scroll, painted and embroidered and hung on 2 dowels. A picture is shown below.

This is the original silk scroll:

"Panaxia I"
43" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

and this could be the fine art print that could be produced in any size mounted in a virtual frame:

 ~

Wrought Iron Bed and a Golden Nymph

I really love this little bedroom. It is incredibly sweet and full of romantic. And of course the wrought iron bed. I never had one but I find these kinds of beds wonderfully oldfashioned and somehow I always associate a feeling of happy childhood with them. Strange isn't it? Wrought iron beds are definitely not for kids only...

This could be a gorgeous bedroom in a cottage. I could imagine a scenery with an old rose garden and many large old trees around the house and and ...

...and of course I would not leave this room alone, without a single art piece on the wall. I have one that would complement the bed, the colours perfectly:

The silk wall hanging has been entirely hand quilted with silk thread and painted. Even the intricate patterns on the figure's dress is painted with metallic pigments.

"Golden Nymph"
50" x 26", Silk Art Quilt
©Petra Voegtle

Normally this is hung with hand made wooden dowels but the wall hanging could be also mounted on a stretcher frame and additionally framed - see link.

~

Hornets in the Doorway

Do you like hornets? I do and I can tell you why.

You will soon understand why I try to break a stone for these wonderful insects. The silk scroll (see below) is an hommage to an insect which has a very bad reputation due to many myths which need to be rectified. Exaggerated stories of hornet attacks and the effect of their stings such as "Seven hornet stings kill a horse, three an adult and two a child" simply belong to that world of fairy tales. Such myths which exist for generations have led to the hornet becoming an endangered species in many areas of Central Europe, due to merciless human pursuit.

"Hornets"
43" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Hornets belong to the most useful insects at all. While most people seem to be afraid of them because of misinformation there is absolutely not need for this. Bees and wasps can be much more dangerous and aggressive. Hornets are peaceful insects as long as one doesn't behave like an idiot and tries to remove their nests. When you have a hornet nest in your garden you should call yourself a lucky person because then you won't have any problems with wasps and other stinging insects such as moskitos and gadflies.

They buzz - this is probably making people nervous. But you should not be. It's a sound that is much more peaceful than the angry barking of your neighbour's dog. Hornets will not attack you and try to eat the jam on your roll or dirsturb your coffee party - they do not eat sugar or other artificial sweets.

Hornets are incredible architects. They build their little palaces with a craftmanship and esthetics that hardly can be compared to anything else from the world of insects. They are real interior designers.

(image source:  http://www.insektenstaaten.de/index.html)

(image source: http://www.rsl-blank.de/Hornissen2008.htm)

Some time ago some rare wood wasps built a nest outside the window of my mom's house. It was at a place that was not a problem. So I had the opportunity to take the wonderful material they created for the nest into my hands after they had all left. It is very similar to the one hornets are creating. I have added some photos I made from pieces of a wasp nest, photographed against light so that you can admire the structures and patterns of these incredible architects:

photography ©Petra Voegtle

And where would I hang the scroll? This doorway would be perfect for hanging this scroll although the original piece of art looks marvellous too. I especially like the connection to wood...

But wouldn't it bring even more luck to you to have this scroll hanging in your house?

~

You think Quilts are out? Never....

Do you honestly believe that a quilt couldn't make it into a well designed big hallway? Why? Because you think a quilt belongs on a bed? Not so!
In my last post I was showing a very special art quilt with an exotic flair and motif. This time I chose something with a motif that should be familiar - Cygnes (Swans). I prefer the French name because it sounds much more delicate, more appropriate for those beautiful birds.

Would this beautiful huge entry hall not be predestined for a large art piece such as this hand stitched silk quilt? And would the grand piano in this place not be the perfect complementary object as if made for each other?

The original painting is certainly making a point but an art quilt would be a real eyecatcher - wouldn't it? Something that not everybody has on the wall.

The art quilt was made from silk, hand stitched with silk and finally painted. It is an hommage to one of the most beautiful birds on our planet, a bird that stands for grace, elegance, innocence and love:

"Cygnes"

76" x 54" silk art quilt

©Petra Voegtle

This wall hanging has been part of a project called “Piecing a Quilt of Life” an international project dedicated to empowering senior women by recognizing their creative abilities by Fiber Artist Dottie Moore in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was part of an exhibition in the Rock Hill Museum for nearly 8 months and was featured on TV in the HGTV channel. More links...

OFF-TOPIC: Climate Change - nothing is static

These days subject #1 is Climate Change. But the explanations of science and rainbow press are equally ridiculous. As if mankind could influence any global changes - ha.
Changes on this planet occur continuously - it is necessary for the universal balance, to keep the planet living. Nothing on earth is static. Climate changes are a necessary element of these changes.

While man certainly has an influence on his nearer environment, pollution of air, land and sea, on the animals and their wellbeing, on plants etc. and while this certainly has an impact on micro climates of cities and adjacent country he has no influence on global climate changes. I do not want to go into details though. It is a matter of common sense.

The melting of the ice caps in the artic region will have some major impact on the whole planet but can we do anything about it? I don't think so. The outcry about this is as ridiculous as about many other issues. This has occured several times in the history of our earth, long before man started to change his environment.

Has anyone ever thought about this being necessary and that if we try to intervene in nature's laws and actions - which we btw mostly still do not understand - we might end up in a chaos? Plants and animals and even man will disappear eventually from certain areas but there will be new ones, new land, new species - continuously. Evolution will never stop.This can be painful but we cannot and should not intervene. What sense does it make to save certain species artificially when the habitat has been lost? Shall we keep animals in zoos only after we have "civilized" all wild land, plastered it with cities? This cannot be the meaning of life and I definitely don't want to live in a world such as that.

We should enjoy the beauties of this world, protect it from greed and overpopulation which is the real scourge of humanity as long as we are here. The secrets of mother nature will never be revealed - we can only comprehend little bits and pieces but never the whole.

This is the reason why I am creating art, beautiful objects which only show a fraction of what exists.This silk scroll has been inspired by the fantastic landscapes you can still find in arctic regions where the ice is carved by mother nature...

"Iceworld"
79" x 25", silk scroll

©Petra Voegtle

If you would like to know more about the "making of" of this silk scroll, please check this link.

And if you would like to see the impact of this scroll on the wall, here are some examples:

interior1, interior2, interior3

This wallhanging was juried into the members show of the Woman Made Gallery in Chicago in 2006.

Follwoing image is and example how this very large scroll could look in a frame:

~