Unveiled at carlier | gebauer gallery during ARCO (6 - 10 March 2024), the first piece of Leonor Serrano Rivas' new series of tapestries was developed in collaboration with Factum Arte and Vives i Mari. It consists of five textile panels forming a single unit, and both the front and the back were considered during the production.

The artist frequently draws inspiration from both artisanal and scientific methods, adapting them to incorporate an element of chance in generating images. In the case of Rythm Patterns #1, the main image is taken from a frame of the film Breathings of the Moon (2022) – by Diego Delas and Leonor Serrano Rivas. In the film, the seabed is imaginatively recreated through the manipulation of magnets and particles, and the tapestry recreates one of these scenes by using inverted seams and ligament movements. Using Jacquard weaving techniques, the interplay of the warp and the weft can be manipulated to generate loose threads, exposed knots, and open crosses.

In the transition from the digital image to woven textile, by translating the coloured pigment used in the film into rayon-viscose threads, the original image undergoes a complete transformation, acquiring its own distinct identity. Within the film, sediments of coloured powder and pigments are dropped onto a viscous liquid that conceals the magnets, resulting in captivating visuals where the forces of attraction are pivotal. Similarly, in the tapestry, weaving 'in reverse' with 12 raster colours introduces a random element to the ties, resulting in these open weaves or the unravelling of the tapestry.
Dust is reimagined as a line, resembling a suspended sound that harmonises with the act of weaving itself.

This was one of the most challenging tapestries of Leonor’s so far, both in terms of size and design of the weave structure. The larger tapestry length meant tension and weaving problems in the first tests, leading to readjusting the weaving structure and reverting the punching process in order to reach the desired 2m length. While Delas and Serrano Rivas envisioned replicating the sea within a fish tank at a micro-scale in the film to grasp an incomprehensible phenomenon, the tapestry enlarges the frame of the 16mm film (W16mm x H9mm) onto a macro scale.

Details of Rythm Patterns #1 © Oak Taylor Smith | Factum Arte

Details of Rythm Patterns #1 © Oak Taylor Smith | Factum Arte

Production: Factum Arte
Artisan: Javier Sáez
Loom: PANTER E5 X. Jacquard Staübli
Weavers: Vives i Mari

Learn more about Diego Delas and Leonor Serrano Rivas' film Breathings of the Moon (2022). This 16-minute, 21-second piece explores themes of mysticism and nature through colour and sound. Listen to the podcast series Magical Fresh & Salty Conversations available on TBA21–Academy Radio channel on Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast.