The slow, considered process of craft is what Jana Visser loves most about creating textile art. The 2023 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize finalist says that the intricate, time- and labour-intensive process is a means to discovery and reflection.
The creative director of Spanish luxury fashion house, Loewe, Johnathan Anderson, started the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize in 2016 to honour craft. Now in its sixth year, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize is one of the most prestigious craft awards today.
The fashion label, known for its eclectic designs and bold colours, has a longstanding commitment to craft. Tracing back to its Spanish roots, Loewe began as a specialised leather-making atelier. The brand continues their devotion to craft through their collections which consistently honour leather craftsmanship.
“Craft is the essence of Loewe,” Jonathan said when the prize first launched. “As a house, we are about craft in the purest sense of the word. That is where our modernity lies and it will always be relevant.”
South African-born, Belgium-based textile artist, Jana is among the finalists of the sixth edition of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, many of whom were shortlisted for featuring an element of surprise, time-intensive techniques, and manipulation of materials. Using textiles as a medium of meaning-making, Jana is deeply invested in the physical practice of textile production.
Jana’s affinity for textiles goes back to her childhood years. Being a touch-sensitive child, Jana was analytical, observational, and drawn to sensory experiences. Since then she has explored the connection between tactile senses and knowledge production, leading to her artistic approach of “creation as knowledge”.
Jana finds the process of creating as important as the creation itself. “Working predominantly with textiles as my chosen medium, I can tap into my desire for slowness, sensitivity, and intentionality, as well as effort and intricacy,” Jana explains, “This in turn allows me the opportunity to create spaces of intimate observation and reflection – surfaces of silent receptivity in which layered meanings are unveiled.”
After graduating with a degree in fine arts from the University of Stellenbosch, Jana relocated to Belgium where she completed her masters in textile design at LUCA School of Arts, where she pushed her textile design into the realm of art. “I became increasingly aware of the importance of the cross-pollination between art disciplines, and the potential of subverting entrenched separations between art and craft.”
Her artwork which was selected as a finalist for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, “In the almost” forms part of a body of research that connects breath, creation, and thought with weaving practices. Similar to our breathing patterns, weaving follows rhythmic patterns and the entanglement of binaries, through the warp and weft of fibres to create textiles. The work centres around dualities such as emptiness/fullness and beginning/ending – not as juxtaposed ideas, but as exchanges – where there is a reciprocity between these states of being.
Using natural fibres, Jana weaves textiles and then manipulates the piece from the loom, taking out or adding fibres. In this way she can remake, or un-make, these textiles into (de)constructed works of art. “Exploring the curved line as a line of becoming, the title refers to the perpetual weaving motion. It is a direct reference to a woven textile in active fruition – a coming into being,” she adds.
The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize seeks to celebrate, support, and grow artists whose talent and vision demonstrate innovation in modern craftsmanship. Loewe is especially interested in work that pushes the boundaries of tradition, bringing age-old techniques into conversation with contemporary culture, while still reflecting the maker’s personal and distinct artistic style.
The 30 finalists will have their work showcased at the Noguchi Museum in New York, where the winner will be announced in May. A panel of experts, from gallery curators to journalists, will assess the finalists’ work and announce the winner at the showcase. The winner will receive €50,000 as a cash prize,
- Images: Photos supplied by Jana Visser
