WEAVING
The eco tapestry project
ALEXANDRA KEHAYOGLOU
13 October, 2021
Photos Courtesy of AK Studio/Francisco Nocito How the carpets and art installations of this postmodern “weaver” are a call for environmental awareness.
With the art of weaving as a valuable legacy from her grandparents, visual artist Alexandra Kechagioglou works mainly with textile materials in her studio in Buenos Aires.
Her artistic carpets are made from surplus materials, woven by hand using a machine which she handles on vertical frames, embroidering them, one stitch at a time. Landscapes and nature miniatures, lakes and meadows create a wonderful reality.
She creates her pieces in her studio in Buenos Aires, utilizing a wide array of technical skills with which she produces works combining textiles, sculpture and installation. She is primarily interested in production processes bringing together art and craft, and develops functional works as complete works of art, in which knowledge of the materials, the technique, and spectator are inseparably intertwined.
THE PIECES ARE MADE WITH SURPLUS MATERIALS, WEAVED WITH THE HANDTUFT TECHNIQUE USING A MACHINE WHICH THE ARTIST MANIPULATES UPON VERTICAL FRAMES, INSERTING STITCH BY STITCH. THE PRODUCTION PROCESS IS ARDUOUS AND LONG, REQUIRING MUCH PHYSICAL EFFORT AND A VERY PRECISE TECHNIQUE.
HOW SHE DOES IT
Kehayoglou’s repertoire includes memories of various native landscapes that the artist has visited and desires to preserve over time. Her renowned pastizales (grasslands), fields, and shelter tapestries are like sublime realities which the viewer can contemplate or utilize. Each one is unique, with a texture, weave and palette that will not be repeated. Each piece is created from an ancient family tradition that nonetheless gives new meaning to the craft of weaving by hand.
The carpets and art installations of this postmodern “weaver” are a call for environmental awareness.
Alexandra’s work has become renowned as an outcry against deforestation and devastation, and for its call for environmental awareness. It is also a warning against the extinction of the wilderness, as well as a strong voice for changing a complacent society which does not seem sufficiently worried about the drastic climate changes brought about by mankind’s intense presence on Earth.
