San Fernando Valley State College
TAPESTRY
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An abstract submitted in partial satisfaction
of the requirements for the degree of Master
of Arts in
ART
Shirley Jean Rosin .§.aito
May 1971
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The abstract of Shirley Jean Rosin Saito
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-is annroved:
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&"ommi ttee Chairman
San Fernando Valley State College
May 1971
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ABSTRACT
'rAPES TRY
by
Shirley Jean Rosin Saito
Master of Arts in Art
May 1 971
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Introduction
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The thesis as an artist c performance should be a
visual contribution to the artist's field.
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have chosen to develop my work in a personal,
emotional way,
rather than attempting to create an in­
novation in the form or structure of the woven piece.
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other words,
instead of seeking out.side stimulation to
inspire myself and in turn my work,
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materialize feelings and mental images into the form
of a weaving$
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ing my
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the
I feel that as an individual I have an ap-
to design and color that is my own and by express-
ideas
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can creat.e a new visual experience.
Hy weavings reflect my reaction to the coldness
flashiness of the objects
that when
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steel and plastic which all convey
impersonality and coldness to me,
ltain my
I see around me.
living in an environment that is composed
! mostly of concrete,
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I tend to look inward
the only way
I can re-
own sensitivity is to surround myself with things
that reflect warmth.
Therefore I have tried to maintain
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sensitivity and warmth in my work.
I have chosen colors
I have also chosen to
which to me reflect this feeling.
use a great deal of texture in order to create a tactile,
as well as a visual,
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sensation for the viewer.
have tried to utilize simplicity rather than
intricacy in technique,
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expression,
design and color.
As my means of
have chosen to work with a tapestry weave
which allows me to use the full color and textural qualities of the various yarns and materials.
Procedure
Design
As I
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inside out.
images
have previously stated,
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work from the
My compositions are spontaneous and use
that have their origins with me rather than with
something that
I
have seen.
The forms that appear in my
weavings are images that I somehow always seem to want
to use.
Rather than fight against this subconscious de-
sire to produce certain shapes,
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which I did for a long
I have decided to use these forms,
refine
them and rearrange them into interesting compositions.
As far
as
I know,
to me except that
forms that
these forms have no significant meaning
I always seem to want to use them.
The
I am discussing can be seen by referring to
the photographs of my weavings.
I use these shapes almost
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I to creat.e any type of symbolism or tried to find out
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whether these shapes have any psychological meaning to me
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as long as I
feel that the composition works as
an interesting weaving,
it does not seem important to
credit it to anything more than intuition.
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The process of refining my compositions into some
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final and definitive statement has been a slow process.
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The first pieces were mostly exercises in texture with the
forms being
very large and not fully resolved.
Gradually
the shapes began to take on a life of their own and began
to react together.
With each weaving,
to work more and more as a whole,
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the designs began
rather than as fragmen-
ted forms with little relationship to each other.
The
completed designs become increasingly simplified and the
use of a border of one given color,
, running off the edge,
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as opposed to shapes
provide the weavings with the unity
that they seemed to need.
I
am discussing
than individually,
the weavings as a group,
rather
because I feel that they represent a
development rather than individual representations of
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separate ideas.
nique was the same toward the
the last..
color and tech-
first piece as it was toward
Although not fully resolved,
the earlier pieces
contain many of ·the same basic ideas as the later ones.
I think it is interesting to view them in this way in
order to see the various stages of development.
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having
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My approach to design,
try to maintain balance in design without
synm1etry.
The weavings are designed so that they
be viewed equally well when hung either way,
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viewed as a rug on the floor�
or as
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Materials
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The weft,
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fabric.
which is the essential part of my work
is composed of many different types of yarn and
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use both natural and synthetic fibers in a
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variety of textures and weights.
I
also use rags made
from old clothes and fabric cut into strips.
when used next to areas of yarn,
The fabric,
provides an interesting
texture change--both visual and tactile.
Color
The
basic consideration I make with regard to
color is whether a particular value of a color will give
the
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impression of warmth and richness.
used various shades
of browns,
In the beginning,
greys,
and off whites.
The reason for this color selection was because these
colors reminded me of things that I find warm and beauti­
ful,
like wood and leather.
I was pleased with the
effect that these colors gave me but I wanted to achieve
the same feeling of warmth with a varie-ty of other colors.
I have found that by being careful about the value of the
color and by cautiously choosing \vhich color I put next
to another,
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any
color ..
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can develop the feeling I want with almost
I tend ·to avoid using highly contrasting colors
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that. produce a more comfortable feeling for me.
I like
to use areas of several different shades of the same
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,color next to each other,
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as well as a variety of tex­
tures of the same color because I
feel that it gives depth
to the weaving ..
I use what
in choosing
I
think of as a color wheel technique
the order for particular colors�
to move gradually from one to another.
I like them
For instance,
when I am using reds and yellows in the same weaving,
tend to use a variety of reds,
yellows,
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and also oranges.
Just as the process of achieving the compositional
effect
Since my use of color is in­
tuitive to a large extent,
the choice varies with my mood
the moment.
color that
j weaving..
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Whenever I try to force myself,
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am
find that
I
am not pleased and eventually have to replace that color
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I rarely try to force myself to use a
cannot feel attracted to at the time
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the.discovery about color
took much experimentation.
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I wanted came slowly,
more comfortable,
Most of the time,
I use colors that are what I
think of as being warm1such as,
land browns.
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However,
one.
oranges,
yellows,
I have used colors that
rusts
I would
j tend to think of as cool, but with the addition of small
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!still gives
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the emotional sensation that I am trying to
achieve.
I Technique
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I work without the use of a cartoon,
the composition either being in my head or s ketched
!roughly on paper.
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the idea for
The reason I have chosen to work some-
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I not want to feel trapped into a ''weave-by-number"
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where I
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because the process of rna k'lng de-
cisions while weaving is an important one to me.
tion,
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I do
situa-
even subconsciously lose my freedom of
choice while I work.
I weave segments of the tapestry at a time,
a slit weave
technique,
using
and gradually build the design.
I normally let the slits remain op en in the finished piece
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because it tends to fit wi t.h the surface.
The sculptural pieces are made by wrapping a
structural element,
wire or rope,
with yarn and/or fabric
in much the same way that one might make a coiled basket.
Summary
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My aim is to create something that is sensitive
and beautiful.
1 ciated
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Hopefully,
the weavings will not be asso-
with any particular date in time,
but rather will
convey emotions that were as relevant hundreds of years
ago as they will be many years from now.
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