The Fabric Book Project
“Maman,” 1999, Louise Bourgeois, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2017 museum visit
Louise Bourgeois is probably best known for her giant metal spider sculptures, but she has a series of fabric books inspired by her mother’s influence as a tapestry weaver and repairer.
Hand-dyed, handspun silk caps, Meagan Condon, March 2017
There is a beautifully executed children’s picture book called Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois by Amy Novesky which discusses Bourgeois’s childhood and these fabric books, as well.
In 2017, several elements came together to inspire a library colleague and me. I had dyed and spun some silk caps and had brought the yarn into the library to share. My colleague, already a fan of Bourgeois, had recently read Cloth Lullaby and shared it with me. I then had the opportunity to visit the Crystal Bridges museum for a Dale Chihuly exhibit where I had the chance to see some of Bourgeois’ work in person, as well.
Inspiration clicked together and we decided to work on a collaborative book of our own. My colleague is a skilled bookmaker and seamstress. I brought my skills as a spinner, weaver, and fiber artist to the table.
We used a range of techniques and our combined experiences. Our goal was to work with a limited palate of red, blue, black, and gray and every page incorporated the red silk handspun in some way. Some of the pieces are deceptively simple. For example, my colleague was able to run my textured handspun through her sewing machine — an incredible show of technical skill — to stitch ten layers of fabric together.
While we created a number of fabric pages, this project remains unfinished at this time.
