Lexicon -- An Exhibition of Weavings by Bhakti Ziek

I have a new exhibition up at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, VT from October 26 - November 26, 2016. It is called Lexicon and includes new weavings as well as some older ones. I have posted images on my Facebook page but will put them here too.

The Refuge series (1 - 8 shown below) are all 8"h x 6"w, woven using taqueté or plain weave structures, composed of seine twine warp (hidden) and wool, rayon chenille, and metallic yarns.

Refuge 1

Refuge 2

Refuge 3

Refuge 4

Refuge 5

Refuge 6

Refuge 7

Refuge 8

Taqueté Bands, Taqueté Rabbit and Samit Duck are part of the didactic series about structures. Some of this series could not be shown, due to space considerations, but I will put them at the end of the images.

Taqueté Bands
29.5"h x 15.5"w, 2016

Taqueté Rabbit
18"h x 26"w, 2016

Samit Duck
16.5"h x 26.5"w, 2016

I wove Florence Cross-Sections and Birds 2 in the summer of 1997 at Fondazione Lisio. They are both damask liserie, one woven by hand (Birds 2) and one woven on a fully electronic loom at Rubelli Silk Mills.

Florence Cross-Sections
31"h x 46.5"w, 1997

Birds 2
9.75"h x 7.25"w, 1997

Quote is the beginning of a series that I still have to weave. It is samitum structure; a motif handpicked on an 8 shaft loom based on a historical textile.

Quote
3.25"h x 3.5"w, 2007

Mark Goodwin made a vitrine for me to show four weavings made circa 1990 using lampas structure and some brocading.

Detail of Pink Lampas Study
80"h x 8"w

Detail of Gold Diamond Lampas Study
69"h x 8.5"w

Lampas with Brocade
6"h x 5.5"w

Supplementary Warp Study6.5"h x 8.75"w
 

There wasn't enough wall space to hang the following five pieces, but they definitely are part of the Lexicon work.

Taqueté Structures
10.5"h x 26.25", 2016

Taqueté Sunset
12"h x 14"w, 2016

Taqueté Trees
12"h x 12"w, 2016

Taqueté Described 1
15"h x 13"w, 2016

Taqueté Described 2
15"h x 14"w, 2016

This is what the gallery says about the work:

Bhakti Ziek - Projects Gallery

October 27, 2016

Bhakti Ziek doesn’t like to be asked “what is it?” about her work. She responds, “It’s a weaving.” If she were a scientist, she would be a research scientist, freely exploring possibilities without expectations of outcomes and end use. As an artist, her favorite pieces are her studies. For her exhibition, Lexicon, at the BigTown Gallery Projects Room, she has created a series investigating three ancient weave structures: taqueté, samitum, and lampas. 

Ziek is a renowned teacher (she says her “higher self” is when she is teaching), and she often leads workshops that cover these three types of interlacement, which probably developed one from the other. Ziek likes to refer to her lineage as a thread of weavers going back thousands of years. As early as the 2nd century, some of these weavers were using taqueté to make figured textiles. Today the looms have changed, but the structures that create the cloth remain the same. In Lexicon, Ziek is attempting to bring the audience into the work by explaining how they are made.

Stitched samplers, illuminated paintings, Mughal miniature paintings, and Sassanian, Safavid, and Ottoman textiles are a few of the influences Ziek sees in her work. Letters have often been a component of her work, but now they are didactic as well as visual. She says that making these weavings has been an elusive quest—that she isn’t quite there, but hopes to get there. Then she laughs and says, “isn’t all life like that; it’s all a journey of hope.”

New York, New York

Beginning and Ending of Trip

Just back from a week in New York City. We went there primarily for art but of course I took advantage of the fact that macarons are everywhere and did some scientific research on taste. Prices ranged from $1.95 to $3.00 per cookie, and texture and flavors varied considerably. They all looked pretty but I would not purchase any of them a second time. On the other hand, the cappuccino pictured above at the Espresso Bar on 6th Avenue near 57th Street was definitely something to repeat.

New York Moments

The weather was beautiful, the moon sublime, and the city familiar and strange at the same time. We noticed so many wonderful new buildings, and visited some classics, like the Chrysler Building above right. We made pilgrimages to some art supply stores, resisting temptation until we got to Kremer Pigments, middle left above. It wasn't just the seductive shelves of color, but the kindness of the two people working there that convinced us to make purchases. I found the current bible of natural dyes there (Dominique Cardon's Natural Dyes) and snapped it up (okay, Amazon would have been less but this place had character).

We went to museums and galleries (I will post about some later) and were amazed at the crowds viewing art. I remember turning to Mark and asking, "Do all these people really love art?" He reminded me of the high entry fees for entering the museums, so clearly they must have some commitment to be there. In the past I could always find an area of the MET that was quiet and off the beaten path--the crowds staying in the current blockbuster, the art lovers wandering into the corners--but this trip every room of the MET (and we probably entered most of them) was crowded.

The city seems much cleaner and upscale in all the neighborhoods than before. We went north, south, east and west and it was very rare to see someone asking for money. The one street dwelling that I saw had an Ikea chair like one I used to own. Of course I am older than when I last visited New York (it has been almost 11 years), but the population of the city also seemed much younger and wealthier than I remembered. I was a resident of the city at 21, so I know about "owning" the city, about posturing and attitude, but we did it on a shoestring. Even today I feel hailing a taxi is an outrageous way to spend money. The 7 Day Metro Cards that we purchased made the buses and subway extremely easy to use.

This trip was really a "grant" from two wonderful friends who went to Portugal and invited us to stay in their apartment. We missed seeing them (luckily had dinner with one of them the last night) but we were able to spend time with some other friends. David Reisman and Mark (above bottom right) studied art together at University of Kansas in the late '70s--and they are both still making art. Going to Chelsea galleries with him was lots of fun. 

Egyptian Order at the MET

When I got home I noticed that Mary Early had posted an interesting article on Facebook about organizing things and it reminded me of these images I took at the MET in the Egyptian area. Aren't the stacks of linen wonderful?

Just a note to say that the exhibition I am in with Pat Adams, at BigTown Gallery, has been extended until October 23, 2011. Things are getting back to normal in Rochester, Vermont with many of the roads accessible now, but that town has been badly hurt and if anyone wants to contribute to helping this town that truly has a heart, you can make a donation. Click HERE for a link. New York Times mentions Anni Mackay, owner of BigTown Gallery, as one of the town heroes.

After the Storm

Opening of Pat Adams and Bhakti Ziek exhibition at BigTown Gallery, Rochester, VT

Hard to believe that a week ago I was at the opening of my show with Pat Adams at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, VT. We knew the storm was on its way, but the evening was clear and calm and lots of people showed up to make the opening very festive. At 4pm there was an informal talk between Anni MacKay, Pat Adams, myself, and the audience and then there was the whirlwind of conversations and greetings that happens at openings. It was a really great evening, and as we left, Anni said she was heading out to pick her vegetables before the rain started.

We had 24 hours of rain, nothing seemed particularly severe, and I woke Monday morning to a clear blue sky day and fresh crisp air cleansed by the rain. We had electricity and when calls started to come in asking if we were alright, I was a bit puzzled. The news up here didn't mention Vermont, but apparently the rest of the country knew that Vermont was a mess. Then at 10am our electric and phone went out. Rumors flew about causes and length of time--I really didn't like the prediction of three weeks before it would be fixed. A small stream turned into a river and took out a substation and most of Randolph was without electricity for 2.5 days. Minor inconveniences (we got charcoal and pulled out our weber grill and I bought these 14 hour candles and found that reading by candlelight is not much fun) compared to many places in the state, and to some other people in Randolph who did have serious problems.

Rochester was one of the 13 (or more?) towns that were cut off from the world. Bridges were destroyed, the road over the mountain that we had taken the night before had become a river bed and washed away the road and some houses. Once we got power back we started looking at everything we could find online hoping to get some info on our friends at BigTown. Finally we saw a photo and could identify Anni and Dunne, so at least we knew they were okay. And yesterday we got a call saying everyone there was okay, and would it be acceptable if they extended the show until October 23rd! Seems a bit selfish to be thinking about my show in the midst of all the mud and cleanup and suffering, but I admit I was happy to hear that people will have extra time to see this show. Pat's paintings and my weavings share the space in very compatible harmony and at times seem to be talking to each other.

Macarons

 So what did I do as soon as the electricity came on? I baked Macarons! I have made them before following a Martha Stewart recipe and I thought they were delicious and perfect, but what did I know? Recently I bought a new cookbook (Sugarbaby by Gesine Bullock-Prado). The cover picture of spun sugar spoke to my heart and then I realized this was the Gesine who had a pastry shop in Montpelier when we first moved here who made magnificent sweets, so of course I had to buy the book. So I followed her recipe and they were a total failure. Because I had eaten at her shop, I knew it was me, not the recipe--so I went on line and found this great video of her making macarons. And I watched it several times, maybe more than that, and then I tried again. The pink cookies shown above show that I still had problems--but they tasted great. 


So then I went back to the internet (this was all pre-storm pre-opening--a good way to focus my energy at stage fright time). And I discovered the most incredible blog by a woman clearly more obsessed than me. Not So Humble Pie has 8 posts on macarons--really a thesis on these cookies. So I tried again--and you can see the perfect little feet and nice flat shell of the yellow ones (though the color seemed to bake out). These not only looked great, they tasted sublime. All these macarons were done using the Italian Meringue method. I don't have a picture of the ones I made once the electricity came on--I used one of the Not So Humble Pie recipes for French Meringue Macaron. They looked okay (but again my coloring, blue this time, baked away), and tasted fine, but they were kind of hallow inside. Another words, I haven't figured it out yet and will have to bake some more.

Linen for Kelly's Curtains

Lucky for me I was already working on a project on my Macomber loom (no electricity needed) when we lost power, so I could keep working during the days. You can see the 18 yards of linen competing with the woodpile for size above. I really am afraid to cut and sew it myself (we all have our expertise) but will do it so Kelly can have her curtains.

Digital Woven Pixel

Alice Schlein and I have been so gratified by the response to our book, The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop. We have had two successful editions sell out and have decided to go with 21st century technology and instead of printing more books we will offer a digital version of the book.

This will be a win-win situation for all of us--especially our overseas readers who have to endure such high shipping costs from the U.S. The cost of the digital book will now be $125, payable by check in U.S. Dollars or by PayPal. There will be no shipping or handling fees. Buyers will have the right to print one copy of the book for their own purposes, and agree that the CD contents will be for their own use. Once payment is made, we will transfer the book and CD contents via a free on-line exchange. Details will be sent to purchasers upon receipt of payment.

We have tried this method successfully for a few weeks and all our readers are satisfied. This will be the same edition as the 2006 book, which was written for Photoshop CS2. Although some items have moved to different locations in the newest version of Photoshop (CS5), we have not had any trouble using our Woven Pixel methods with this version. Although, we can not guarantee what the developers of Photoshop will do in the future, we can say our methods work in any version of Photoshop CS up to now. To order the digital version of the book please email either Alice or Bhakti.

Emperor by Bhakti Ziek, 2011

handwoven jacquard using shaded satins

photo by Michael F. Sacca

I have a show opening this week at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, Vermont. The weaving above will be in the show. It goes with the weaving I posted a couple of weeks ago. Here is the information about the show or go to the gallery site for more images and more information:

PAT ADAMS & BHAKTI ZIEK

GEOMANCER

August 24 - September 25, 2011

OPENING RECEPTION

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011

Reception 5 - 7pm

Artist Discussion 4pm