Pae White
Perisna (ranSeed(3317),COMBO[28].loc.x*s,
COMBO[28].loc.y*s), 2014Lurex, silver, cotton and polyester290 x 290 cm
About the work
Pae White brings together a wide range of art historical references to create a distinctive contemporary visual language. She connects the expansive abstract surfaces of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko with the playful spatial qualities of Alexander Calder’s suspended mobiles and the rich tradition of European jacquard tapestries. This exchange between painting, textiles, design and architecture also informed her monumental stage curtain for the Oslo Opera House, in which the shimmering surface of aluminium foil was translated into woven fabric.
Perisna belongs to a series developed for an exhibition at the MAK—Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. In these works, White incorporates gold- and silver-coloured threads into jacquard-woven textiles. Her patterns draw on both the richly textured, decorative surfaces of Gustav Klimt’s paintings and Japanese katagami: intricately cut paper stencils traditionally used to apply patterns to cloth. White has collected these historic stencils for many years, finding in them a continuing source of inspiration.
The composition also reflects her interest in American abstract painting. As in the work of Pollock and Rothko, the entire surface becomes a field of visual activity, with no single central motif directing our attention. Instead, the eye is free to wander, discovering patterns, textures and shifting relationships across the tapestry.
White describes her working process as an ongoing adventure: “I keep wondering why I begin a project when I have no idea how I am going to approach it.”
Her fascination with everyday objects and materials has affinities with American Pop Art, particularly the work of Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Yet she brings these influences into dialogue with European textile traditions and the skilled craftsmanship of tapestry weaving. The meeting of popular imagery, design, craft and fine art lies at the heart of her practice.
Pae White
Born in Pasadena, California, in 1963, Pae White lives and works in Los Angeles.
After studying at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, she worked as an assistant to artist Mike Kelley. Early in her career, she developed a lasting interest in the relationship between fine art, design and craft. Her work explores the boundaries between these disciplines, questioning how the role of the artist relates to those of the designer and the craftsperson.
Since 2006, jacquard weaving has been a near-continuous presence in her practice. Her designs are developed digitally and woven on computer-controlled jacquard looms at a specialist weaving workshop in East Flanders, Belgium.
At the 2009 Venice Biennale, White presented Weaving, Unsung in the Arsenale. The installation brought together two seemingly unrelated aspects of Venetian culture: the recently introduced ban on feeding pigeons and the centuries-old practice of the chioccolatori, traditional bird callers who attracted birds by imitating their calls.
This unexpected pairing reflects a recurring approach in White’s work: bringing apparently contradictory worlds into contact. Here, it opened up a subtle reflection on tradition, the regulation of urban life and the disappearance of intangible cultural heritage.
By the time of documenta 13 in 2012, tapestry had once again emerged as a significant medium within contemporary art, a wider development that resonated with White’s sustained exploration of weaving.
Artist Talk
Portfolio
