Jenny Rieke :: Weavings
Prayercloth Family
I call these ‘prayercloths’ for two reasons: I have found the rhythmically patterned movements of weaving to be profoundly prayerful, therefore my prayers are an integral element of their makeup. Secondly, the finished cloth hanging on the wall invites a prayerful touch, a thoughtful tactile pause. These were all woven on the same fine cotton warp. The painted warp of some was inspired by an October flight over the Hanford Reach.
Spiraling Grief
Beaded roots, trunk, and branches on this solstice prayercloth express my grief process. Beads –representing my tears- first formed the taproot of the bare tree, the skeleton of experience, and moved up through the ground of existence. Stitching in an upward movement, and telling the story to you, lifts my spirit, elevates my soul song, and manifests a sparkling hope as I move through this, my most challenging chapter of life.
My Life is Song
The weft of this fabric is a double strand of audiotape. I wound the cassette halfway and used it as the shuttle. Drawing on three decades of my favorite music, I incorporated everything from jazz, classical and gospel to bluegrass and rock ‘n roll.
Mixed Sticks
Lily stems from a Kennewick garden and from the farm, along with tule from the farm pond constitute the weft of this cloth. Glass beads represent the water of these plants’ natural wetland environment, as well as the cleansing tears that naturally accompany so many prayers.
Red & Gold
I thinned the Russian Olive saplings crowding the banks of the farm pond to weave this fabric. Each stick is polished to deepen the warm glowing shades. Glass beads represent the mists that settle over the fields, clouding my vision, suspending assumptions, inspiring reflective growth.
Take Comfort
Wools in oatmeal hues paired with more audiotape combine to represent that which brings comfort in times of adversity. A bowl of warm oatmeal and the sound of beloved tunes and lyrics can lift me from self doubt and cynicism, strengthening my will to persevere. This cloth expresses a kind of cosmic embrace of encouragement and hope.
Stick Mat
More lily stems and tule, this is a natural sampler.
Fire On Water
An autumn holiday spent paddling, hiking, and intensely connecting with a new friend proved to be a magnificent awakening for this girl. Not only did I reconnect with an enduring ability to navigate a river in confidence, I discovered an unbounded capacity to resonate joyfully with another person, responding with a big YES! to the possibility of new relationship. This tapestry, from inspiration to execution, has affirmed me as a whole person who is present and accounted for as the second half of my life beckons.
Catch A New Breeze
An old windmill blade, found between kisses on the bluffs overlooking the Snake River, became a valentine to all humanity. To wash and flatten the galvanized metal, then wax, polish, and bind the blade with lace, padding & fabric, and then warp it with old guitar strings I gained some precious clarity about my own feelings. The pain of love denied translated into a universal wish for Cupid’s touch. With each new strand of weft, I wove the hope for spark between kindred spirits everywhere. This valentine expresses my deep gratitude for having been noticed at last, for having been so powerfully sparked out of isolation.
Meet the Family
A somewhat typical family gathering over the winter holidays took on interest as I wove this design between meals and outings. I was the new person in the mix, made even stranger by the fact that I was weaving with audiotape and ribbon in a drumhead hoop. We learned much about one another as I diligently created while interacting with new relatives.
Spirit 1
The branch, with a bird-like quality, symbolizes my new life partner who feels only from the waist up. Arms outstretched in a sweeping arc, the gesture describes his embrace of life in spite of limited mobility. The suspended weaving is actually two separate surfaces tensioned on a shared hoop. I imagine my love’s spirit hovering between these discs, emanating outward to touch and inspire those around him. The feather where his head would be expresses his close rapport with birds, most notably the crow.
Block Weave
Worked with audiotape from my thirty-year collection, this prayercloth incorporates sticks from the waters’ edge at the farm pond where I walked daily with my dog, Moshka, and eventually buried him.
Lilysticks
Harvested one autumn from a lily patch gone wild, these sticks capture the mottled nature of a full life. The farm cats Ellie and Pancho helped me gather and bundle them as Moshka, the geriatric dog, watched nearby.
Power of Love
Beginning with a radiant golden warp strung onto a retired timpani drumhead hoop, I wove beloved tunes (captured on audiotape) into the threads. An emerging spiral spoke of the tremendous change taking place in my life and in the world. Only the outreach of gem–toned bling could express my joy extending beyond boundaries.
Midair to Midstream
Feliz and Mondo, border collies extraordinaire, used to make a daily trek with me down to the river. Between throwing sticks for them, I practiced yoga. Arcing slowly forward until gazing upside-down between my knees in a blissful back stretch, my gaze traced a vertical slice of landscape recorded here in myriad fibers collected since childhood.
Bluewoods
An earth prayer, this weave is warped with sunshine and water hues. A fall pruning yielded the long golden sticks, of which the beads are made. Last summer I gathered the small twigs beneath soaring poplars, waiting for my companions to descend Steamboat Rock and dreaming aloud about the childhood delight of popsicles on hot summer days.
Shield of Forgiveness
A raspberry thicket planted by a woman seemingly impossible to forgive yielded these canes. Seeking a way to begin, I imagined a yielding armor, a symbol of strong spirit porous enough for love/hate particle exchange. Guided by the limits of chosen materials and the innate gnawing tendencies of a newly adopted pup, I arrived –finally- at this seed of possibility.
Working At Play
When the old man passed away, his grandson delivered to me a golf bag full of leisure equipment which included these irons and golf gadgets. Silk neckties were scavenged from an extensive heap of discarded clothing at the recycling center in Oakland. This piece represents a cultural intersection, a collision of two social icons: the golf iron and the necktie, a playful poke at taking life a bit too seriously.
Ladder to the Sun
A cluster of mammoth sunflowers stood sentinel over last summer’s garden. These stalks supported their massive seed heads, then aged to the deep brown tone. The notion of ladder-as-loom allowed me to create a variety of sunflower interpretations based on studies of seed catalogs during chilly winter days.
Adaptation
I’m certain that I channeled this piece from another dimension. The diverse elements wove together with breathless intensity: frame and strapping from the asparagus plant, obsolete film strips, broken levolor blinds and burnt out fluorescent tubes from school. Even down to the cassette tape spindles, there was no question about what went where. There you have it!