Voyager

Technology is a lens for the imagination. Through it we can peer into far galaxies as well as discover the secrets of our planetary neighbors. In the summer of 2017, the internet was swept away by the release of images from NASA’s Juno probe. Revealing details of Jupiter never seen before, the forms are at first familiar, swirls of marbled paint or ripples in water. But as you start to understand more, you learn these are swirling storms larger than the earth itself and the hostile, alien world is still very much an unknown to scientists.

Initially responding to the swirls and textures with soft watercolor and ink sketches, this collection started on a hand operated Passap machine exploring methods of creating volume.

Experimenting on a Shima Seiki knitting machine using tubular jacquard and an elastic with strong recovery, my fabrics started to yield the desired volume - but the patterns drawn in the knitting software were too sharp and blocky. My solution was to return to painting and sketching, and then scan these hand drawings and translate them into the base of the knitting program. I loved seeing how the movement in the jacquard fabrics distorts the drawings and explored how different fibers and yarns reacted to the pull of the elastic.