Spider Silk • Introduction • Lamba • Taffeta Shawl • Satin Shawl • Cape • Press
Shawl – Sheer Taffeta Weave
Madagascar, 2009
160 x 60.5 cm
Warp: 48 threads
Weft: 24 threads,
Weight: 65 grams
Exhibited
September 2009 – October 2010: Presented at The American Museum of Natural History, New York ‘Spider Silk’
June 2011 – September 2011: Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice ‘Penelope’s Labour: Weaving Words and Images’
September 2012: Musée Bargoin, Clermont Ferrand, France ‘Textiles Extraordinaires’
September 2019 – April 2020: Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, USA ‘The Art and Design of Spider Silk’
This shawl represented the first attempt at weaving with golden spider silk for over a century, and used silk collected from over 500,000 Nephila Madagascariensis – golden orb spiders which are native to Madagascar.
A staggered spacing without any weft was left to add to the natural delicacy and lightness of the silk.