Damien Ajavon

Name: Damien Ajavon

Studio location: Montreal, Quebec

Website / social links: @damien.a.a

Loom type or tool preference: Most of them are Leclerc looms with 4,8,12,16 shafts, but I like to work with electronic looms too – my favorite is the electronic Leclerc

Years weaving: 7+

Fiber inclination: Wool, Cotton, and linen

Current favorite weaving book: A Handweaver’s Pattern Book by Maguerite Porter Davsion, it’s kind of the basic book for weaver

 

 

1. How did you discover weaving and was what your greatest resource as a beginner?

I discover weaving with my mom and she is always telling me how important crafts are in Senegal, especially weaving! She’s always telling a story about some artisan in some village that have a special weaving technique. I remember one day she took some fabric from her stuff and cut it in half and gave it to me. She told me I would be always protected by this piece of fabric! The piece of fabric is beautiful, it’s black with some red and white squares. It was a gift from her mom before she left the house in Dakar to move to Paris. It made me want to discover more about.

2. How do you define your practice – do you consider yourself an artist / craftsperson / weaver / designer / general creative or a combination of those? Is this definition important to you?

I just want to be considered as a creative mind! The label is not really important to me. I spent a long time denying that I was an artist, but now I know it!

3. Describe your first experience with weaving.

It was a long time ago when I use to study at the Royal Academy of art in Brussels. The first year I was working on the Tuaregs tribe and now they have a huge influence in my work because it’s a part of my origins. We had these 4 or 8 shafts loom to work on and it was really free for us to explore the combination to create patterns. My warp was a blue like indigo. I had all this yarn for my weft around my table in earth, sand, blue, and I was so excited I spent hours trying to build nice color combinations. I also had these small pieces of fabrics that I dyed and used as yarn. It was such an exciting first experience I will never forget!

4. What is your creative process, from the initial idea to the finished piece? Are there specific weave structures, looms, or fibers that are important to your process?

My creative process is very different from one piece to another, but I always start from images and test different colors and yarns. When the test works, I create the finished piece. I usually like to play with unconventional materials, and combine knitting in my weaving! I create my own yarn with nylon and cotton on a my knitting machine, and then I weave with it. In my Spanish-lace piece I did find a way to make it more contemporary and vibrant then the classic Spanish-lace. Usually weaving is more 2D and I tried to have this 3D feeling with it, and the result is very interesting!

 5. Does your work have a conceptual purpose or greater meaning? If so, do you center your making around these concepts?

I feel like my work is conceptual somehow because arts and crafts have this traditional vibe, however when I use unconventional materials it creates a little edge.

 

6. What is your favorite part of the weaving process and why? What’s your least favorite?

I love the weaving part! It is a meditation and like you and your loom are telling a story together visually from yarn to yarn. My least favorite part is threading the heddles, and it’s something that I don’t really enjoy because it takes so long… but it’s also part of the process.

7. Do you sell your work or make a living from weaving? If so, what does that look like and how has that affected your studio practice?

No I don’t sell my work yet, but soon!

8. Where do you find inspiration?

My cultural heritage and my roots as African born in an occidental country! I found it so rich in many ways such as colors, symbols, sounds, materials. Also, art in general.

9. What other creatives do you admire – weavers, artists, entrepreneurs – and why?

This is a really difficult question as I admire so many artists and it’s hard to make a list because I will feel bad for forgetting some of them. Some of my favorites are the Memphis Group (art collective), Aboubakar Fofana (indigo magician), Molly Haynes (weaver), Mous Lamabat (photogrpher), Ib Kamara (stylist), Campbelladdy (photographer), and many more!

10. If you could no longer weave, what would you do instead?

I’d definitely stick to using a knitting machine!