Alexandra Kehayoglou

Last updated
Alexandra Kehayoglou
Born1981 (age 4142)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
NationalityArgentine
OccupationTextile artist
Website Official website

Alexandra Kehayoglou (born 1982) is an Argentine textile artist. She is best known for her large-scale carpets and tapestries reflecting natural landscapes, works which address the topic of climate change. [1] She won the Konex Award from Argentina in 2022. [2]

Contents

Biography

Kehayoglou was born in 1982 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a family of carpet-makers. Her grandparents immigrated from Isparta (present-day Turkey) in the 1920s, bringing with them their practice of making Ottoman-style rugs. Her grandmother founded a carpet-making company, El Espartano. Kehayoglou went on to incorporate the family tradition of carpet-making into her own artistic practice. [3] [4]

She grew up in a house in Argentina surrounded by a garden, a forest, a farm, and a river, which influenced her artistic interest in nature and the Argentine landscape. [5]

She currently lives and works in Athens . [4]

Meaning and origins of her work

Her technique relies heavily on the hand-tufting system, a laborious type of textile weaving used in carpet-making. The subject matter links her with her family traditions, specifically her grandmother. [5] She uses recycled scrap yarn from her family's factory to create her work.

Her subject matter is the Argentine landscape that she calls home. She often travels to new locations to research and study the landscapes she depicts. Her work represents places which have been impacted by climate change or damaged by human activity. Her work has become known for its call for environmental preservation and awareness. [1]

Works

For Paris Fashion Week in 2015, Dries van Noten ordered a tufted rug from Kehayoglou for a catwalk that covered the entire stage. The carpet consisted of four parts and totaled 144 square meters. It was completed by three 10-member teams in 16 days. The carpet is an abstraction of the Argentine landscape where she lives. [3]

Her 2016 work No Longer Creek documents the Raggio Creek, a creek north of Buenos Aires where she used to go running, whose banks have been damaged by human activity. Her work represents what the creek used to look like to reflect the greenery and landscape that has been lost. It calls the viewer to experience this environment that no longer exists and reconnect with lost nature. [6] [7]

In 2017 she completed Santa Cruz River, titled after the Santa Cruz River in Argentina, for the National Gallery of Victoria Triennial. The river was the proposed site of two major hydroelectric dams. [3]

Her 2018 series titled Prayer Rugs addresses the landscapes of the Parana Delta Wetlands, which has been damaged by deforestation, hunting, the introduction of foreign species of fauna, and both domestic and industrial pollution. Her work documents the "micro-narratives" of the surviving plants and wildlife in this region. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rug making</span> Making of rugs or carpets

A rug is a piece of cloth, similar to a carpet, but it does not span the width of a room and is not attached to the floor. It is generally used as a floor covering, or as a decorative feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpet</span> Textile floor covering

A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester have often been used, as these fibers are less expensive than wool. The pile usually consists of twisted tufts that are typically heat-treated to maintain their structure. The term carpet is often used in a similar context to the term rug, but rugs are typically considered to be smaller than a room and not attached to the floor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiber art</span> Artworks made of fiber and other textile materials, emphasizing aesthetic value over utility

Fiber art refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris & Co.</span> Decorative arts firm founded by William Morris

Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875) was a furnishings and decorative arts manufacturer and retailer founded by the artist and designer William Morris with friends from the Pre-Raphaelites. With its successor Morris & Co. (1875–1940) the firm's medieval-inspired aesthetic and respect for hand-craftsmanship and traditional textile arts had a profound influence on the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tufting</span>

Tufting is a type of textile manufacturing in which a thread is inserted on a primary base. It is an ancient technique for making warm garments, especially mittens. After the knitting is done, short U-shaped loops of extra yarn are introduced through the fabric from the outside so that their ends point inwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryijy</span>

Ryijy is a woven Finnish long-tufted tapestry or knotted-pile carpet hanging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azerbaijani carpet</span> Rugs made in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani carpet is a traditional carpet (rug) made in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani carpet is a handmade textile of various sizes, with a dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azerbaijan's many carpet-making regions. Traditionally, the carpets were used in Azerbaijan to cover floors, decorate interior walls, sofas, chairs, beds and tables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriana Lestido</span> Argentine photographer (born 1955)

Adriana Lestido is an Argentine photographer. Her black-and-white photographs document the often difficult place of women in society.

Scandinavia has a long and proud tradition of rug-making on par with many of the regions of the world that are perhaps more immediately associated with the craft—regions such as China and Persia. Rugs have been handmade by craftspeople in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden for centuries, and have often played important cultural roles in each of these countries. Contemporary Scandinavian rugs—most especially Swedish rugs—are among the most sought after rugs in the world today, largely due to the contributions of designers like Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom. The story of Scandinavian rugs is a vital chapter in the cultural study of Scandinavia, as it reveals a great deal about the aesthetic and social conventions of that region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedish carpets and rugs</span>

Carpets and rugs have been handmade in Sweden for centuries, taking on many different forms and functions over the course of time. Rugs woven in the traditional Oriental manner, especially in the Ottoman Empire and points east, were originally brought to Sweden over trade routes as early as the early Middle Ages. In the centuries that followed, Swedish rug-makers often infused their works with themes and motifs traditionally found in Oriental rugs. Eventually, Swedish rug-makers would begin to use Oriental rug-making techniques, but themes and motifs more consistent with the artistic and cultural heritage of Sweden. By the early modern periods, rugs had long been an important avenue of art – especially folk art – in Swedish culture. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the craft was seen as being an important artistic and cultural practice throughout Sweden, and designers began to make rugs that had a broad international appeal. Swedish rugs from the mid-twentieth century remain among the most desirable and sought after in the rug world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frida Hansen</span> Norwegian artist (1855–1931)

Frida Hansen was a Norwegian textile artist in the Art Nouveau style. She has been described as a bridge between Norwegian and European tapestry, and several of her weaving designs are considered among the best made in recent European textile art. The works of Frida Hansen are owned by a number of museums, including the National Museum - Museum of Applied Art in Oslo, Drammen Museum, Stavanger Art Museum and the Nordic Museum in Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Dorn</span> American textile designer

Marion Victoria Dorn also known as Marion Dorn Kauffer was a textile designer primarily in the form of wall hangings, carpeting and rugs, however she is also known to have produced wallpaper, graphics, and illustrations. Known for her significant contributions to modern British interiors in particular for her 'sculpted' carpets, she contributed to some of the best-known interiors of the time including the Savoy Hotel, Claridges, the Orion and the Queen Mary. In the late 1930s and early 1940s she created moquette fabric designs for use in London Transport passenger vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulina Singerman</span> Argentine actress (1911–1984)

Paulina Singerman Begun was an Argentine actress and businesswoman who primarily worked during the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema, performing on both stage and in films. In the later part of her career, she spent a decade performing for television. She was the younger sister of actress Berta Singerman. In 1981, she was awarded both a Diploma of Merit and a Platinum Konex for her comedy work in film and theatre.

Nora Aslan is an Argentine visual artist and photographer, known for tapestry design and collage. Her work has been compared to that of Max Ernst, Fred Tomaselli, Hieronymus Bosch, and Matthias Grünewald.

Amy Theresa Austin is an Argentine ecologist. She is a principal research scientist at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina and a professor at the Faculty of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Morris textile designs</span> Textile designs by a founder of the British Arts and Crafts movement

William Morris (1834-1898), a founder of the British Arts and Crafts movement, sought to restore the prestige and methods of hand-made crafts, including textiles, in opposition to the 19th century tendency toward factory-produced textiles. With this goal in mind, he created his own workshop and designed dozens of patterns for hand-produced woven and printed cloth, upholstery, and other textiles.

Matilde Marín is a contemporary Argentine artist who works in photography, engraving and video.

Silvia Rivas is an Argentine visual artist known for her multi-channel video installations. In Latin America she is considered a precursor in the area of expanded video. Her work is characterized by the crossing of materialities and technologies in which she uses both electronic devices and ancestral techniques. Her production is organized in thematic series of video installations, drawings, photographs or objects. Interested in revealing the metaphorical power of different materialities, she uses the electronic medium and the moving image to record stillness, the imminent and the subjective perception of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Zicafoose</span> American textile artist

Mary Zicafoose is an American textile artist, weaver, and teacher who specializes in ikat, an ancient technique in which threads are wrapped, tied and resist-dyed before weaving. Zicafoose is the author of Ikat: The Essential Handbook to Weaving Resist-Dyed Cloth (2020). Her works are part of private and public collections, including at least 16 embassies around the world as part of the U.S. Art in Embassies Program.

Flora Manteola is an Argentine architect. She is known for her works that focus on the reuse of buildings and educational projects. Manteola also teaches at the University of Buenos Aires.

References

  1. 1 2 "BIOGRAPHY — Alexandra Kehayoglou". alexandrakehayoglou.com. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  2. "Alexandra Kehayoglou Konex Award". Fundación Konex.
  3. 1 2 3 Magazine, Wallpaper* (2015-02-02). "Catwalk carpet: Alexandra Kehayoglou weaves together art and fashion for Dries Van Noten's S/S 2015 showscape". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  4. 1 2 Heyman, Stephen (2015-02-09). "A Dream Weaver". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  5. 1 2 "textile terrains: alexandra kehayoglou on weaving memories of forgotten landscapes". designboom | architecture & design magazine. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  6. "No Longer Creek — Alexandra Kehayoglou". alexandrakehayoglou.com. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  7. Gipson, Ferren (2022). Women's work: from feminine arts to feminist art. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN   978-0-7112-6465-6.
  8. "Lush Tufted Tapestries Document Ecological Changes in Argentina's Landscapes". Colossal. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-11-15.