Each piece that artist Anna Fiedler creates is entirely different from the next. She handmakes her woven paintings one by one, working multiple looms at a time – alternating between them as they each reach different stages of maturity at different times.
‘Throughout the day I will be continually switching between looms with each work at a different stage,’ she says. ‘I might be painting on one loom and while I am waiting for the paint to dry I will weave the handles of a bag on the other.’
This alternation is the nature of her unique craft, which is a mixture of painting and traditional weave techniques. First, Anna works the warp threads onto the loom and paints them with an image. Once she is satisfied with the final image, she then threads the weft into place to weave one continuous piece.
This process is experimental, and she can’t see the work in entirety until it is finished and taken off the loom.
‘I wanted to be a photographer from a very young age and followed that path up until my early twenties,’ she says. ‘This all changed once I discovered the artist Lenore Tawney – her woven sculptures instantly inspired me to start weaving and I haven’t stopped since.’
Anna soon fused her self-taught weaving skills with her training in fine art and photo-imaging to resolve a totally unique practice – woven paintings. She purchases her yarn from a small, family-operated store in Melbourne, restricting herself to only natural materials and deadstock. The cotton yarn she uses is so fine that the weavings are translucent in their final form.
They’ve resonated deeply with artists around the world. Anna has a variety of stockists for her pieces: Shop Toko Toko in Byron Bay, Homebody in Melbourne (you might recognise her work from Homebody founder Tilly Barber’s Warrandyte home!), Tangerine in New York City and Anna’s website.
‘Art-making is the one constant in my life, where I feel grounded, content and hopeful,’ says Anna. ‘It is fundamental to how I navigate the world. I hope to communicate who I am in that specific moment through my painting. I am ever-changing and so is my work.’
See more of Anna’s thoughtful practice here.
The delicate woven paintings by artist Anna Fiedler. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Anna in her studio on the Brunswick side of Merri Creek. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Anna threads the warp threads into place and then paints an image over the top. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
She then incorporates the weft, weaving the whole piece together in one continuous work. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
She won’t know what it looks like until it is finished and removed from the loom. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
The cotton yarn she uses is to fine that the final woven pieces appear translucent. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Anna on the loom. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Her site also offers woven bags, each which take about two days to complete. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Anna’s practice is experimental, so she is constantly incorporating new materials. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Stacks of artistic inspiration pile up around the studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Pieces lie around in various stages of completion. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
