VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

The word coverlet refers to a cover, typically for a bed. An overshot woven coverlet results in a raised relief pattern on the textile that appears to float on the surface. Transcribed overshot patterns signify a coded language translated to and through the floor loom by a weaver to form complex geometric visual compositions. Encoded Narratives investigates the spatial identity of overshot woven coverlets authored by enslaved African Americans in the Middle and East Tennessee regions of the United States. The work explores layered connections between textile-overshot artifacts, history, culture, analog and digital craft, space, and place. The creative investigation establishes these elements as drivers for understanding the identity of materials, their embodied narratives, and how they are situated in interior space. The exploration leads to new knowledge and gives a voice to the weavers in the present day by referencing subjugated and buried stories manifested within interior objects made by enslaved African Americans. Encoded Narratives explores liberated visions of Black creativity by interweaving methods for deconstructing confined historical overshot woven structures and uncovering patterns liberated through the combination of digital fabrication and video generation. It introduces methods of transcending the restricted overshot compositions by incorporating technology and Afro-Futuristic approaches into the design and process. The project communicates the weavers’ narratives, from the analog patterns woven on the loom to digital loom-weavings of video abstractions. The study uncovers and conveys new spatial identities and storytelling forms by combining traditional weaving, digital technology, and mixed fabrication methods.