About

FRASER FIBER ART
David W. Fraser
907 North Pennsylvania Avenue
Yardley, PA 19067
215-295-2016 | email me

My artistic work is rooted in the influence of textile structure on form and pattern.  The structures that most interest me involve the interaction of elements in ways that are not readily mechanized.  These structures are simultaneously remarkably versatile (by allowing the creation of shaped objects of much greater rigidity than might be expected from the pliability of their elements) and constraining (because the surface patterning is dictated by the paths of visible structural elements, rather than applied freely to a blank surface).  Some of these textile structures antedate the development of looms with heddles, thousands of years ago.  My artistic work, therefore, has been complemented by serious study of the material culture of a range of societies around the world where such structures have survived and, in some cases, continue to be used.  My interest, however, is not in reproducing traditional work, but in exploring how venerable methods can be expanded, refined and applied to new artistic challenges.

My artistic production has been concentrated in phases.  In the early 1980s I explored weft twining.  In recent years, I have turned to ply-split braiding (otherwise known as split-ply twining), which has been most fully developed by men in Rajasthan, India, for decorative trappings of their camels.  My work in ply-split braiding has explored novel geometries of vessels.  Currently, I am working mostly in 12-strand waxed linen, which I twist into 4-ply cords and manipulate with a handmade gripfid.

.