65. CATARINA RICCABONA: A SPACE BETWEEN KNOTS AND FLOATS.

Catarina Riccabona: Siblings, 8 Holland Street - LONDON.

Catarina Riccabona, Left, Right and Center, 2024 - Vertical diplych handwoven in linen, paper yarn & raffia. H100 x W120cm (per panel) (8957). Image: M-A (A SPACE BETWEEN) May 2024.

‘I used knots, floats and cut floats as metaphors for states of relationships. Knots are visible connections and repairs… All threads are rooted in the same web from which they emerge and into which they go back, but temporarily they exist in parallel worlds…’ C.R.

Please can you introduce your exhibition: siblings?

'Siblings' is a site-specific exhibition of 14 paper yarn tapestries, made from 26 individual hand-woven panels, at 8 Holland Street's Flagship at St James's Park, London. This new body of work came into being in response to recent events in my family life that have been at times quite challenging and overwhelming. While these works have a very personal starting point, the themes and questions embedded in them can be relevant in a more universal context.

Grief / loss

Conflict

Betrayal

Legacy

Loyalty

Relationships

Communication

Connecting and connections

Expectations

Needs and neediness

Responsibility

Conflict of interests

Values

Unity

Support

Belonging

Control

Power

Group vs individuals

Identity

Stagnation

Change

Catarina Riccabona, Awake at Night, 2024 - Singular panel handwoven with reused wool, raffia, paper yarn & sisal. H150 x W120 cm (8956).

Seeing the works hanging within a room, I felt that many of the proportions appeared as mirrors or screens, how the viewer would stare deeply into their surfaces - they seem to reflect something deeper, and the sense of movement is fascinating - like a monitor detecting different frequencies, in between channels - and yet with no sense of needing to be tuned into focus.

The works were made specifically with the exhibition rooms in mind. The proportions of all works were chosen to work with the existing panelling on the walls of this period town house. The suggestion of mirrors / screens is very appropriate, these woven panels could serve as surfaces onto which the viewer projects their own reflections and thoughts. I think the specific architecture might also be evocative of mirrors and screens.

The words 'monitor' and 'frequencies' made me think of the strong link between computers and looms. Both operate based on binary code, everything is expressed in combinations of zeros and ones or ups and downs. In the weaving process each thread can only be either lifted up (=one) or left down (=zero).

A weave notation (a printed or drawn diagram of a particular weave pattern) typically shows the pattern expressed in small black and white squares that indicate the thread positions in the pattern. For plain weave for instance, the most basic weave pattern, the weave notation looks like a checkerboard: one up (black square), one down (white square) in one row, then in reversed order: one down, one up in the following row and so on.

In many of the Siblings tapestries I symbolically used an (enlarged) arrangement of blocks, woven in tapestry technique, that mimics the weave notation for sateen, a weave pattern that creates the smoothest possible surface. It symbolises my hope and wish that relationships in my family become smooth again.

The surfaces of the works are very sensory, particularly in the series where knots are more pronounced - they are fragile and yet seem intricately robust like a mesh - papery light and somehow defiant from breaking...

I used knots, floats and cut floats as metaphors for states of relationships. Knots are visible connections and repairs. 'Floats' refer to areas in the woven surface where the weft yarns float / travel across the warp yarns without interlinking (they just appear as parallel lines). All threads are rooted in the same web from which they emerge and into which they go back, but temporarily they exist in parallel worlds, run in different directions, seemingly without interaction or connection. Cut floats represent disconnect, tension relief, interrupted continuity and chaos.

Catarina Riccabona, Alignment, 2024 - Diptych handwoven in linen, paper yarn & raffia H200 x W120 cm (per panel) H200 x W240 cm (Approx total dimensions) (8953).

The sense of flags felt striking also, of borders and identities - I felt a sense of warning signs, of peace signs, of a sense of distance, defiance of order and re-order, personal and yet also universal somehow...

I like this description very much. Working on these pieces gave me space to process and learn. The same events and circumstances that catapulted my family into chaos, upheaval and estrangement also created new possibilities, reinforced alignments and a stronger sense of unity. There is simultaneity and coexistence of opposite aspects, complexity. In turn, there is choice of what to focus on and what to let go.

The shadows cast on the walls, like ephemeral linings - where the pieces hung were very interesting, tenderly present like reassuring echos - capturing the atmosphere and yet muffling the vivid energy of the works...

Maybe the appearance of those shadows - which only happened once the tapestries were installed on the wall - represents a new moment in time, something emerging and part of a ripple effect that has its origin in the making of these works. For me personally the process of creating and making has been as significant and meaningful as the result. Now that the pieces have left my studio and hang in a new context, it is time for me to step back and let them be in the world, full of surprises and new possibilities.

Catarina Riccabona, Ghost, 2024 - Vertical diptych handwoven in white linen, paper yarn, alpaca & raffia H160 x W230 cm (8952).

Catarina Riccabona Siblings - 8 Holland Street 34a Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AB. Until 6 July 2024.

Thank you: Benjamin John Hall and Dr Kyung Hwa Shon.