I studied weaving and Japanese art at the University of Hawaii. The desire to create dimensional weavings led me to seek off-loom techniques. This search led me to Guatemala to study 3D overshot back strap weaving, Japan to study Kumihimo braiding and ultimately to bobbin lace; realizing that it is actually “weaving in any direction”: where one can change warp for weft at will.
Lace has served me well: rather than cutting a shape from a piece of metal, I think of achieving the desired shape by building up the form using individual wires; the tensile strength of gold and silver wire supports structurally sound twists and turns allowing my mathematical formulations to grow into fluid 3D jewelry and sculpture.
Although bobbin lace is a weaving process; the addition of the twist in the technique gives the characteristic open spaces. These “open” areas are just as important in the composition as the dense stitch areas themselves. This idea requires the designer to think in multiply layers of design.