Tapestry and Triaxial Braiding

From the early 1970s through the 1980s I digressed from music into the visual arts, specifically the medium of fiber arts.

The move into visual arts was largely the result of joining many others in the late 1960s and early 70s in the use of large quantities of hallucinogenic substances. Visual art seemed the most appropriate avenue for expressing these experiences.

At the time I was hanging out with my girlfriend in the weaving studio of the local art school. I became a sort of general factotum, helping students set up their looms for projects, winding yarn and the like. Medieval tapestries had always fascinated me and I found the direct, tactile, physical, and low-tech qualities of weaving highly attractive. This led to the purchase of a second hand tapestry loom and, eventually, to the development of skills needed to create pictorial works in fiber.

In the mid 1970s, Buckminster Fuller published Synergetics: The Geometry of Thinking. I sank into his world with great pleasure and decided to figure out some way to use Fuller's geometry, based on the 60 degree angle vs. the 90 degree angle of traditional geometry, in fiber works. I developed a method of interweaving yarn in three directions--three axes: triaxial weave. This method let me work with three sets of colors intersecting in Fuller's 60 degree angles.

Exhibits

Marietta Crafts National

Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio, 1974, 1980

 

Weavers’ Guild of Pittsburgh, annual shows

[various locations], Pittsburgh, 1975 (Harrisville Design Award), 1976, 1979, 1981 (Best use of color), 1982, 1983, 1984 (“Brightest piece without metallic yarn”), 1985, 1986 (LeClerc Award), 1988

 

Warp Factor Nine. Invitational exhibit

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Allegheny Center Branch, 1976

 

Tapestries: Two person show with Maxine Heller

Undercroft Gallery, Pittsburgh, 1978

 

Beaux Arts Designer/Craftsman

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, 1979

 

Tapestries II: Two person show with Maxine Heller

Unicorn Gallery, Towson, Maryland, 1979

 

Three Rivers Arts Festival

Pittsburgh, 1980, 1981, 1982 (Honorable Mention), 1984, 1986 (Connections: Works in Fiber)

 

Objects

Exhibit at The Store sponsored by the Carnegie Institute of Art, 1979, tour 1979-1980

 

Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Small Show

[various locations], 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985

 

Mannings Annual Handweaver’s Show

Mannings Handweaving School, East Berlin, Pennsylvania, 1980, 1981, 1982 (2nd prize, fiber manipulation category)

 

Tapestries III: Two person show with Maxine Heller

Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, Richmond, Virginia, 1982

 

Tapestry and Triaxial Weaving: Two person show with Maxine Heller

H. M. Neal Gallery, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, 1982

 

Celebration of American Crafts

Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, Connecticut, 1983

 

The Figure: New Form/New Function

Arrowmont Gallery, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, 1983

 

Museum Show. Associated Artists of Pittsburgh

Carnegie Institute of Art, 1983, 1985

 

People

Oxford Center, Pittsburgh, 1984

 

Fabric/Wood

Bird in the Hand Gallery, Sewickly, Pennsylvania, 1985

 

Artists’ Response to Technology

Carnegie Mellon Institute Gallery, Pittsburgh, 1985

 

Works in Fiber: Two person show with Maxine Heller

Velar Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 1985

 

Fiber National

Adams Memorial Gallery, Dunkirk, New York, 1985, 1986, 1987

 

Triaxially Braided Works. One person show

Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Gallery, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 1986

 

Pittsburgh Society Regional

Pittsburgh Society of Artists, Studio Z, Pittsburgh, 1987

 

Wholly Matrimony. Invitational exhibit for married couples in the arts

Johnstown Art Museum, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1987

 

Wichita National

Wichita Art Association, Wichita, Kansas, 1987

 

Contemporary Crafts Exhibition

Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1988

Bibliography

"Color Transitions in Triaxial Weaving." Fiberarts. 15:2 (1988), 16.

 

"David Mooney’s New Portraits Utilize his Pioneering Triaxial Weave to Create Effective

Shading." Fiberarts. 15:2 (1988), 17.

 

Fiberarts Design Book. New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1980: 43.

 

Goodman, Deborah Lerme. "Pictorial Tapestry: A Portfolio of Contemporary Work."

Fiberarts. 10 (May/June, 1983), 29-35.

 

_____. "The Triaxial Weaving of David Mooney." Fiberarts. 13 (May/June, 1986), 34-37.

 

Hutchins, Jean, ed. The Fiberarts Design Book II. Asheville, NC: Lark Books, 1983: 24,

42.

 

Mooney, David R. "Braiding Triaxial Weaves: Enhancements and Design for Artworks."

Ars Textrina. 5 (June, 1986), 9-31.

 

_____. "Handweaving Triaxial Weaves with Braiding Techniques." Ars Textrina. 3 (Fall,

1984), 99-124.

 

_____. "Triaxial Weaves and Weaving: An Exploration for for Handweavers." Ars

Textrina. 2 (Spring, 1984), 9-68.

 

"Triaxial Weaving." Handwoven. 10 (Nov/Dec, 1989): 58-60.

OK. Digression over. Back to music.