LARA KNUTSON – JERSEY DEVIL WEAVING


http://www.laraknutson.com


Lara Knutson is an Artist, Industrial Designer and Architect who works in New York City.
Lara’s work is sold in design stores and museum shops around the world, including MoMA and the Cooper Hewitt. Her soft glass series is in the permanent collections of the Corning Museum of Glass and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.


https://americanart.si.edu/artist/lara-knutson-30182

http://m.cmog.org/artwork/soft-glass

http://madmuseum.org/learn/lara-knutson

https://laraknutson.com/collections/jewelry/products/nebula-necklace-with-opalescent-glassF

 

YOUR FAILED PROJECT


Jersey Devil Weaving. This project was a call for submission to an art show about American Monsters curated by my friend, Richard Saja, and shown at the One Mile Gallery in Kingston, New York, September 2016.


The framework of the project was to re-create one monster inspired by a famous American monster. I chose the Jersey Devil.


As a little girl, growing up in New Jersey, I was afraid of the Jersey Devil, so I based this project on that monster.


This was a weaving of retro-reflective materials that make light look 3 dimensional and metallic leather that reflects light to make images onto the retro-reflective surface. I chose the same weaving pattern on the woven Marcel Breuer Chair which were the kitchen chairs I had as a child.


other (describe) Was in a show, but missed the mark for what the curator was looking for.


I would have asked the curator more about what he was looking for and tried to make the imagery created by the light more realistic.


This is the best part. I learned that the visual effect created by bouncing light off of and by using LED lights. This fabric reads really well visually as a woven surface and now I’m using this technique to make LED light installations.


This project made me want to weave more with light using LED’s in relation to this fabric and to push the boundaries with the lighting effects that can be achieved with this fabric by simply weaving.

 

ON E-TEXTILES


I like that surfaces are capeable of being functional because it can make they seem magical and otherworldly. I also like that there is an economy of space and form inherinent in a surface being able to do multiple things.


I believe that Form Follows Phenomonon. If a surface has an inheranet function other than being a color or type of finish, this allows that phenomenon to enhance forms in new ways.


I would like to see more threads available for 3D knitting.