Chantelle Folarin

We caught up with Chantelle Folarin, one of the West Midlands weavers activating an AVL Studio Dobby loom, on loan from Birmingham City University (BCU) as part of Ikon’s exhibition Thread the Loom.

Can you tell us about some highlights from your residency?

Working within a gallery environment has been really exciting because I’ve got to engage with people while I’m actively doing my work, and I don’t normally get the opportunity. So then I need to explain everything I’m doing – sometimes people don’t see that process, they just see the final product. Getting to explain why I’m using the materials I’m using, showing them the process of how a weave is put together, has been a really invaluable experience for me.

Please describe what work you’ve produced on the loom.

So I wanted to produce three weaves because I was being ambitious, but the residency is not about the production of the weaves, it’s to show the visitors what’s happening. I decided to choose metallic materials because the warp was a neutral silk colour, a neutral silk warp.

I tend not to plan my weaves out, I gather the materials first. As a self-professed magpie, I like to use lots of metallic materials, so my approach to weaving on this warp has been to free weave. I’ve chosen each material as I’ve gone along, not necessarily planned it out, maybe had a look back at what I’ve done, and then selected the next material to weave with.

There’s all sorts of different materials. So there’s chain, there’s some cord, there’s metallic twines, there’s a metallic yarn.

What have you learnt from this experience?

I think this is the first time I’ve used the AVL Dobby loom, I normally use a handloom. So before I started the residency, I got to weave on this for a couple of days to get used to it. It’s a whole different process of weaving, whereas on the handloom you lift shafts to create a pattern. On this loom, the computer will aid you in lifting the warp, so when you program any pattern in, you do it in a foot pedal motion. I’ve got used to that process now and it’s been really nice using the AVL Dobby loom. Also just speaking to other people and getting feedback and having that interaction, that’s also been invaluable for me.

This exhibition is supported by Jerwood Foundation, Cotton Textiles Research Trust, The Saintbury Trust and Freelands Foundation.