Bringing together mechanical work and handmade craft, textile designer Renata Bonfanti weaves a variety of colorful wall hangings that capture viewers' attention. The works, which consist of nine large scale woven pieces, cover the gallery space in warm gradient tones that create a comfortable environment. These brightly colored wall pieces are eye-catching from a distance due to their bold, simple shapes, but upon closer inspection, or incredibly complex, and their weaving techniques and textured materiality consisting of raw wool, linen and meraklon. The precision of Bonfanti’s designs are impeccable, and mimic the density of a modern day city skyline.
Bonfanti’s work demands attention and questions the role of women in artmaking. By revamping the traditional rug and making a soft sculpture wall hanging with sharp architectural features, she transforms something originally viewed as feminine into something more masculine. Bonfanati proves that the craft done by woman’s hand is important and especially cannot be replaced by machine, and by doing so, insists that woman’s crafts have an essential role within society. The creativity and ingenuity needed to design these pieces have been created through the lens of someone who continuously proves that woman's craft is essential. She does so with her innate ability to create mathematically complex designs that cannot be manufactured by machine or easily invented without years of dedication to the craft. Textile works need to be treated with as much dignity and respect as those of traditional fine art.
There is a lot to be said for the design of the weavings, they feel reflective of mid-century modern design and minimalism, while having a warmth and identity in their color palette. In Bonfanti's compositions and colors there is a interplay of softness and rigidity, masculine and feminine, organic material and architectural forms. In a basement room, the work is at first unassuming, but as one spends more time with the weavings, the complexity, craftsmanship, and sensitivity to form becomes more apparent.
ReplyDeleteI admire how you emphasize as much as Bonfanti that any traditional craft done by women is just a craft but, when it's done by a man it's considered fine art. Craft is never treated with as much dignity as other fine arts even though it is equally as hard to produce just because it is traditionally “women’s work”. These pieces were amazing to see because of their size and complexity showing Bonfanti's craftsmanship and mastery of weaving. Especially in the pieces with circles, the craftsmanship to create a circle out of a medium that makes squares later by layer seems extremely challenging.
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