Carnet d'études (Study Notebook) - Jacquard Tapestry Triptych

Materials: Hand-dyed and hand-spun wool, cotton, linen, polyester
Technique: Jacquard weaving (2 warps, 3 wefts)
Dimensions: Height 72 inches, Width 14 inches x 3 panels, Depth 1/8 inch

Ksenia explains her artwork:

Carnet d'études presents the drawings made on the edges of my notebooks and the quotes I picked up over the days, displayed in black and white on a polychrome background. These elements were digitally transformed and then woven by hand on a Jacquard loom.

This work was born from my scientific and aesthetic interest in combining technical contrasts. Using wool hand spun on a traditional spinning wheel and industrial yarns, I wove a Jacquard tapestry on a computer-assisted loom. Thus, I combined a very simple ancestral technique, spinning, with a sophisticated and complex one, Jacquard weaving, including all the computer work that precedes it.

The aesthetic of my work is inspired by the technique of engraving : a layer of black ink is scratched with a quill pen to reveal an underlayer composed of multiple colors unified by optical blurring. Continuing with this aesthetic, I chose to work from drawings I made on the edges of course notes during my three years of college. These scribbles, made in a state of distraction, without any specific purpose or thought, are simple, made of black lines on white paper. Among these drawings, phrases of wisdom are introduced in French, English, and Russian, my mother tongue. These are quotes I have accumulated over time and which are important to me.

This woven work reinterprets engraving and scribbles in a combination featuring black drawings on a polychrome background and handwritten phrases in black on a white background. It is woven on a double black-and-white warp of 120 threads per inch and three wefts: white 2/16 cotton, black 2/16 cotolin, and polychrome handspun Corriedale wool. Three 35 cm wide panels form a triptych.

Carnet d'études is a tribute to a certain period in my life, a kind of reminder, my self-portrait at the time. Born from a rather formal interest, this work has become the witness of a spiritual quest.