Nicolette Moyer

Name: Nicolette Moyer

Pronouns: She / Her

Studio location: Los Angeles, CA, USA

Website / social links: nicolettetheweaver.com, @nicolettetheweaver

Loom type or tool preference: Tapestry Looms, knitting Looms

Years weaving: 9

Fiber inclination: I’m open to all fibers

Current favorite weaving book: Weaving Modernism: Postwar Tapestry Between Paris & New York by K. L. H. Wells

Contact information for commissions and collaborations: email address

 

 

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

I discovered weaving when I attended Rhode Island School of Design’s summer session textile program. When I was attending, I was an undergraduate student at Curry College who was not sure what she wanted to do in life yet. My college counselor suggested I try this summer course because she knew I loved fashion and was artistic. RISD offered me a wonderful introduction to the beautiful world of weaving and textiles. The teachers were very knowledgeable, and the classroom offered a limitless supply of material to experiment with. I owe my love for weaving and textiles all to my wonderful college counselor.

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 define myself as a mixed media weaver due to including knitting within a majority of my tapestries. The exact definition is not important to me. Most of the time saying I am a weaver is an easier way to explain to others who are not familiar with textiles.

3. Describe your first experience with weaving.

I found my first ever weaving experience therapeutic, liberating, but also stressful at the same time. Not only did RISD teach me how to weave but also how to properly set up the four-shaft loom. I found setting up the loom to be very stressful because it has been done a specific way. Once I got to sit down and start to weave not only did, I feel the creativity kicking in, I also felt as if my worries were washed away. I felt free due to having to having the ability to be as abstract or realistic as I wanted.

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 does not always start the same way. Sometimes I have a source of inspiration. Sometimes I start experimenting with a material I currently have in my possession then inspiration comes later. I love creating texture. I need it in every piece I create. To me a lack of texture makes a piece I am making uninteresting. I use knitting but also many tapestry techniques to not only create texture but depth as well.

I never create a fully detailed planned image of a finished piece. I may have an idea of what I want it to look like but never truly detailed. Every time I have done that in the past it only stresses me out and diminishes my creative thoughts. It also never turns out the way I envisioned it. I try to have an idea of the finished result but keep it flexible and open to change.

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

The meaning of my work is to portray knitting and weaving in a new way. Knitting is traditionally only used for fashion and interiors but hardly seen in fiber art. I want to change that. I love how fiber art is trending, yet it tends to lack the incorporation of knitting. It started as a simple experiment and has led me down this path to think outside the box. To bring a different approach to the art world.

 

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

Adding different tapestry techniques to my pieces and seeing how the different textures start to capture my idea is my favorite part. I would say my least two favorite moments are when I have to set up the loom and when I start to lose patience when working on a piece that is taking longer than I expect to complete.

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?

Yes, my work is available for purchase. I have been participating in art exhibitions lately. I hope one day to be able to be a full-time weaver.

8. Where do you find inspiration?

I tend to find inspiration from uncommon occurrences in nature and the cosmos. I am fascinated with these uncommon and strange occurrences in our universe because not only are they beautiful but also are examples of the power of nature. For example, there is only one volcano on our planet that erupts blue lava. Yes, you read that correctly, blue lava. The volcano is named Kiawah Ijen. Located in Indonesia and due to containing high quantities of sulfur make the flames of the lava appear blue during the night. How cool is that? It makes for beautiful art. I have yet to weave a piece based off of this marvelous volcano.

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

I am an admirer of the painter Ashley Collins. I first noticed her in a gallery in Sun Valley, Idaho when I was a child. I was a big horse lover as a little kid and her giant paintings of horses caught my attention. As I got older, I started to truly understand her creative process. Before she paints, she will take aged paper from old books and attaches it to her canvas. Once she covers the full canvas she will begin to paint. I love the texture she creates in paintings due to this process.

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

I believe I would be involved with horses somehow. I have loved them since I was a little girl and has been another passion of mine.