Baker Artist Portfolios

My work synthesizes the processes of weaving and embroidery to investigate the pattern relationships present in weave structures. The weaving draft is a polyrhythmic score, played on the loom by the weaver--a physical manifestation of a complex mathematical process. By responding to the naturally gridded architecture of woven cloth with embroidered mark making, I am writing a code with which I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of generative weave patterns. Once I have used this process to achieve a codified fluency in this language, I can then subvert the patterns, investigating the chance relationships that occur. In this sense, the language of the embroidered patterns will be used almost conversationally, the figures interrupting and flowing as the work develops. As a result, dissonance and harmony will work together to make a more compelling image and the work will become a natural extension of my research.

Recently, I have been studying the pattern structures of Antioch tiled mosaics. Similar to weaving, the medium dictates the mathematic structure. Because my process is inextricably linked to the grid, these mosaics really speak to me. They function as an active, mobile grid, able to accommodate the articulation of a curve just as easily as a hard geometric angle. In these mosaics, there is no apparent hierarchy of background and foreground, creating an otherworldly spatial dynamic.