Polly Barton

BIO

ARTIST STATEMENT

"In weaving, the warp is the vertical plane of resistance beckoning and challenging as does the blank canvas, the empty page, and the sculptor’s block. The weft is the horizontal element, the expressive potential in the hand of the artist. The woven thread carries the progress of time, knots tied in the past, dyed in the present, and the calligraphic line of future possibilities. 

Fiber has memory and tells a story of its own as well as that of our collective tactile experience. Skilled and vigorous, each thread builds to construct a textile membrane of subtle energy, surprising as it emerges from the implicit grid of the loom.

I have been working with Ikat for over 30 years, exploring its endless possibilities and rich global heritage. A technique of binding skeins of yarn in calculated patterns before dyeing, ikat has enabled me to “paint” with the warp and weft creating layers of color as well as revealing the gesture in the hand and will of the artist.

Woven threads mark the progress of time and sustain our collective history. Listening to the subtle energy of textiles, I use color woven into color as a contemporary expression of ikat with the hope of keeping an ancient fiber technique alive."

TECHNIQUE
:

There are multiple forms of ikat: single, double, compound and pictorial. The process of ikat involves tying either warp yarns, weft yarns or both in a measured and pre- designed pattern. After the yarns are tied, they are dyed and can be tied one or more times to achieve many layers of color. Obviously the dyer moves from a lighter color to begin the process and ends with the darkest color as the last dye step.

The ties are then removed, the loom is dressed with the dyed warp, and the weaving can begin with the dyed weft yarns.

Ikat is found in many forms and in many cultures around the world identifiable by specific textile traditions. (It is called kasuri in Japan.)

I have used all the various forms of ikat over the years and examples of them are on view in the show at the Gravers Lane Gallery. They have all been woven on a narrow Japanese kimono loom, in plain weave. Working from a design, I weave with Japanese tsumugi silk, following in the traditional ways I was taught in Japan in 1980. Because of the narrow width of the kimono loom, the larger pieces were woven in panels and then pieced together. I have also used ikat in a tapestry format more in keeping with influences of living for 20 years in the Southwest and its dynamic weaving traditions.

I have taught the Ikat dye process in New Mexico, Penland, North Carolina and this summer at the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association’s Conference in Scranton, PA. Workshops and private tutorials are also available in my studio in Santa Fe, NM.