Marina Piva

Weaving soft volumes is Piva’s study of the implementation of textile thinking and form design, resulting in an explorative collection of three-dimensionally woven objects for interiors. "Nobody ever decided that textiles should just be flat and rectangular. Through weaving I started looking at the loom as a 3D additive tool. I asked myself how a loom can give form to volumetric textile objects. Similarly to a 3d printer, I imagined the weft yarns as its filaments, the shuttle its nozzle, the warp its path to follow; pick by pick, the loom builds up structures, then layers, then volumes." The background research examined simultaneous approaches to textile-garment design in fashion and strategies for understanding and producing multi-layer weaving. Piva was inspired by traditional and contemporary basketry techniques, which shape three-dimensional forms using stiff materials. To challenge the loom, its tension and mechanics, the designer sought to translate basketry into soft fibres and supplementary filling elements. Basketry provided a conceptual starting point that guided the design process, defining collecting, protecting and sitting as the main object categories. The design and production phase was closely dependent on tools, prototyping techniques and multi-layer weaving. The objects were designed through a constant shift between 2D and 3D thinking, where forms, structures and colours supported and enhanced each other. The first objects were realised with a manual shaft loom, the second with two TC2 Jacquard looms and the third with an industrial Jacquard loom. "Making with the loom(s) has been an intensive emotional journey. During the process, I reflected on the relationship that develops between practitioners and their tools. As I was weaving and creating, my understanding and coping became a real collaboration with them. I learnt to adapt to their language, mechanics and systems. I challenged their usual functionality, and they challenged my visual, imaginative and manual skills. Now, I am able to think beyond layers, imagine textile forms that expand in space, and colours that become three-dimensional."