Artists, graphic and fashion designers are always on the lookout for inspiring patterns and color combinations. Some may find them in museum exhibitions, in books, in the real or in the digital world; others in the objects they may collect.
Edward C. Moore, who served as the jewelry design director and head of the silver workshops at Tiffany & Co. from 1851 to 1891, was a notable collector of decorative arts, for example. His inspirations ranged from Greek and Roman glass to Japanese baskets and Islamic metalwork.
From June to October, the Met Museum in New York will showcase a selection of Moore's items in the event "Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co."
Among the 180 objects, the Roman glass bowl fragments stand out for their fascinating patterns and diverse colors.
These fragments exhibit a variety of hues - from solid earthy shades to bright and bold red, translucent honey brown, cobalt blue, and opaque brick red or white, yellow layered with white, and purple - along with intriguing motifs like zig-zags, irregular stripes, and wavy lines while creamy iridescences break marbled effects, offering a wide range of inspirations.
Additionally, the event features a book on the floors of St. Mark's Basilica, part of the collection La Basilica di San Marco in Venezia illustrata nella storia e nell'arte da scrittori veneziani (1881), published by Ferdinando Ongania.
This series of volumes is available on Archive.org and, while several volumes contain black and white pictures of the sculptures and architectural details of the basilica, the volume that will be included in the event mainly focuses on the tessellated floors of St. Mark's.
This is a particularly intriguing book for all those who are into patterns as it features detailed drawings. The floor of the basilica resemble a large Oriental carpet extending for 2,099 square meters and characterized by various types of motifs, with intricate geometric figures prevailing (in 1881, Tiffany & Co. produced objects such as cups with matching saucers that were clearly inspired by the geometries in this volume View this photo).
Since we mentioned Venice, those of you on the lookout for intriguing patterns and in particular knitwear designers, should check out Claudia Alarcón and Silät’s works, currently on display in the Arsenale section of the 60th international Art Exhibition.
Alarcón comes from the Wichí La Puntana community in northern Salta, Argentina. This clan-based matrilocal society is known for weaving with hand-spun vegetal fibers from the local chaguar plant, a female-led activity for centuries.
Alarcón works with a collective of traditional weavers named Silät, and together they process, spin, and dye fibres from the native chaguar plant and weave them into textiles.
However, instead of replicating traditional patterns, they reinterpret them, fostering a connection between Wichí history and contemporary culture while empowering Indigenous women with self-sustaining practices.
Crafted using hand-spun chaguar fiber, natural dyes from the forest and aniline dyes, and weaving techniques like the Yica stitch, these pieces reflect the evolving dynamics between tradition and modernity.
At the Venice Art Biennale there are eight works by Alarcón and by members of the Silät community (Anabel Luna, Graciela López, Ana López, Mariela Pérez, Fermina Pérez, Francisca Pérez, Marta Pacheco, Rosilda López, Margarita López, Melania Pereyra, Nelba Mendoza, Tomasa Alonso, and Edith Cruz).
In these pieces Wichí textile traditions are employed to create large-scale artworks that blend various geometric patterns and figures, sometimes breaking the rigidity of traditional geometries to evoke fluid forms or depict human figures and the cycles of nature (four works on display are dedicated to the seasons).
Each artwork carries precise narratives inspired by stories dreamt and told by elders in the community about the relationship humans forge and break with all living things. In this way women across generations transmit contemporary Wichí culture.
Woven textile objects made from the chaguar plant hold significant cultural, historical, and economic value for the Wichí people.
The plant itself features prominently in a mythological tale in which celestial women, living in the sky as stars, descend to earth using woven chaguar ropes to dine on the fish caught by fishermen. When they discover them, men enlist the aid of birds to sever the ropes, trapping the women on earth indefinitely. Despite their earthly confinement, these women continue weaving, passing on the wisdom of their celestial origins to their daughters.
The tale, represented in the piece "Kates tsinhay" (Mujeres estrellas / Star women, 2023; last two pictures in this post), symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood and the transmission of cultural knowledge and chaguar weaving through generations.
Therefore, the patterns here aren't merely decorative, but they convey meaningful messages, communicating unspoken thoughts within a culture that values highly forms of non-verbal expression, and the messages found within dreams and subconscious intuition. Silät, the name adopted by the artist collective, means indeed "information" or "alert," and reflects the role of textiles to convey messages and thoughts.
In the diverse patterns explored in this post - from glass bowl fragments to geometric floors and textiles that bring forward traditional motifs and techniques - lie many inspirations.
So, remember, the key is to explore and experiment with them, or rediscover one's own traditions, much like Alarcón did, and then use the results of your research on personal projects that may span across various mediums such as prints, textiles, knits, graphic or interior design.
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