TOUCHED BY LOVE

Touched by Love was created as a tribute to David van Buskirk's mother, Jane, and to serve as a creative collaboration between them - a testament memorialising a woman whose artistic talent was mastered at home and who nurtured her sons creative spirit.

It was this domestic space that greatly impacted David's textile journey as a weaver and textile designer. Exploring new techniques and processes in tapestry weaving, they experimented with a variety of structures on the loom to produce this work, creating a supplemental warp that moved independently of the primary warp to facilitate a seamless insertion of my mother’s embroideries into the tapestry itself. The colours in her embroideries served as their inspiration for selecting the coloured yarns comprising the form of her hand, and her embroidered flowers influenced their design of the tapestry’s background motifs.


Image: David van Buskirk, Touched by Love, detail , Tapestry, 2021, 28" x 52" x .5. Image above: David van Buskirk, Touched by Love, Tapestry, 2021, 28" x 52" x .5.

To weave Touched by Love, David chose to use bed sheets from his mum's linen closet, which were dyed and cut into strips. Classic tapestry weaving techniques were employed to incorporate several of their mother's original hand embroideries produced she she was young. A testament to her craft skills and creativity. 

The tapestry has been selected for inclusion in this year’s American Tapestry Biennial 14 sponsored by the American Tapestry Alliance, a nonprofit organisation that offers educational programs and exhibitions to support and promote contemporary handwoven tapestry artists.

The Biennial 14 exhibition runs until 20 July 2023 at Tennessee Tech University’s Appalachian Center for Craft.

Find out more about the work of David van Buskirk:
Website: www.dvbart-design.com

Instagram: @dvbart_design

Find out more about the American Tapestry Biennial:
Website: americantapestryalliance.org/exhibitions/atbiennials