RED – Keith Pierce

Untitled.  12″ x 36″  Band weaving (various techniques) Pearle and unmercerized cotton.

These bands represent two traditional weaving techniques: card-weaving and backstrap weaving with hand-held rigid heddles.

The card-woven pieces were woven on a backstrap loom with the commonly-used warp-twined-cord structure.

The rest are either backstrap-woven using a pattern heddle (Spaltegrind in Norwegian), or on an inkle loom with manual pick-up.  They use supplementary warp patterns on a plain-weave, half-basket-weave background — commonly known as either “Baltic” or “European” structure.

The color red dominates traditional woven bands throughout Scandinavia and Baltic regions.  Some are thicker and stronger, and would have been used as straps and belts. Other finer pieces are examples of hairbands, shirt bands, or decorative edging on clothing.