What is Intuitive Weaving and what can I learn about Intuition and the Creative Process from it?
Intuitive Threads — an exploration of the nature and role of intuition in the creative process through Saori and intuitive approaches to weaving.
My original aim for the Intuitive Threads project was to explore both SAORI weaving and Intuitive weaving. The purpose of this project is to allow for exploration and expansion of ideas. It’s open ended with loosely defined outcomes. Having said that, sometimes it’s helpful to have definitives and definitions. To close down the parameters a little and close in on what’s most relevant with some focus. So that you know what you’re doing, where you’re heading, what you’re looking at. I wanted to see if there was a definition of ‘Intuitive weaving’. There are 1,902 entries with the hashtag #intuitiveweaving on Instagram as of today (17th April 2023), so it must be a thing!
Maybe not surprisingly, considering the multiple meanings the words intuition and intuitive can have, I’ve struggled to find a universal definition. The term seems to have different meanings and purposes for different people and weavers. Maybe an Internet search is not the most comprehensive way to explore this but that’s where I started. A bonus of this approach was that I discovered some really interesting and inspiring weavers and textile artists that I wasn’t aware of before. People from around the world who have created businesses and workshops and put together ideas in ways that show something out of the ordinary can work. I’ve also come across some really interesting and perspective expanding pieces of writing.
Returning to attempting to define the term ‘Intuitive weaving’, some common themes came up in my research,
- Spirituality — weaving as spiritual practice, and/or tradition.
- Ancient origins — weaving as an ancient craft
- Archetype — weaver/weaving archetype — weaving as creation/creating
- Ritual — weaving to create or as ritual
- Self-expression — as a vehicle for self-expression and creativity
- Subconscious — accessing and expressing the subconscious
- Process over outcome — intuition is connected to in the creative process
- Instinct over intellect — (favouring creativity over logic or right brain over left brain)
- Boundaries — weaving process providing structure for creative practice and intuition
- Flow — weaving as a physical practice that allows for a state of ‘flow’ to be experienced
- Mindfulness and Meditation — similar to flow, a mindful process
- Spontaneity — a creative process/way of working without or with minimal pre-planning
- Individuality — creating one off individual work
- Non-standard materials — using natural, found, collected or recycled materials
- Technology — Intuitive meaning easy to use and understand computerised looms for industry (the interloper)
I came across an article titled ‘Intuitive Thread: The Beauty of Process in Japanese Textiles’ by Eloise Rapp. There was so much in this piece of writing that resonated with me. I highlighted a lot of lines and felt I was uncovering important ideas and perspectives. Mentally I’m still processing some of the information to see how it is relevant to my own explorations into intuitive processes. The article doesn’t discuss SAORI weaving but the ethos and tradition of other forms of Japanese textiles is relevant to SAORI as it developed from Japanese and Zen cultural backgrounds and philosophies.
The article refers to the Mingei folkcraft movement, and the writings of its founder Sōetsu Yanagi. He valued religious and Zen philosophies in the making of traditional Japanese crafts. The article mentions the idea of Mushin, meaning ‘no-mind and the importance of valuing instinct over intellect to create beauty. Sōetsu Yanagi’s writing is quoted and this phrase stood out to me as it highlights process over outcome,
“…the artist doesn’t need to force an outcome to fit an imagined ideal of beauty — instead they should yield to the process that gets them there.”
I think it may be necessary for me to look deeper into the Mingei folkcraft movement and its philosophies. This Japanese Spiritual and Zen approach is new to me but I have been struck by the relevance and insight in these ideas and of course their relevance to SAORI’s own approach and core principles.
I’ve been wondering if it will be helpful to attempt to write my own definition of intuitive weaving for the purposes of this project and my own weaving practice? I found this quote on Instagram advertising an intuitive weaving workshop. This seems to me to be a good concise usable definition of intuitive weaving.
“Intuitive Weaving — a practice of bringing the internal intuitive experience into form through the practice of weaving…” Danielle Garber @everythreadhandwoven
Within this concise explanation is contained most of the aspects listed above. So perhaps this is the starting point for me to expand on to form my own definition. To me inherent in this simple statement are some big mysteries — What is the ‘internal intuitive experience’? What does it mean? How is this experienced? How does the intangible come into form? The big question — what exactly is intuition? What do we mean by the word intuition? Here are some meanings that spring to mind.
- Intuition — meaning an inner knowing or psychic ability
- Meaning something that is easy to understand
- Meaning pattern recognition and web thinking
I intend to investigate and research the nature of intuition in creativity and the creative process further as I continue the project. Also looking at some academic theories and the personal experiences of myself and other artists and creatives.
Looking into the nature of self-expression we can draw on ideas found in art therapy and from Jung’s theories about expressing the subconscious. I think it is an interesting dichotomy that weaving in essence is a very rational logical process but through the introduction of the individual expression of the creative human, an interaction occurs between that which is logical, tangible, practical and physical and the intangible, unstructured, seemingly random that combines to create something which is both physical but contains an expression of something other, the Self maybe, whatever the essence of creative intuition is. After watching a video on Youtube this morning from Alison Armstrong I began thinking about whether intuitive weaving could be seen as expressing a balance of the masculine qualities of logic, rationality, production and linear focus with the feminine energies of intuition, diffuse focus, free expression, spontaneity and process.
During my research into intuitive weaving and thinking about the nature of creative self-expression I wrote down the following;
There is a core truth within us seeking to be expressed. Hidden beneath layers of smaller truths that need to be expressed first. We may never access the core truth of ourselves, of who we are, where we came from, why we are here. But the drive to access that place within continues to drive creative self expression.
I seem to have asked more questions rather than arrived at answers. I may not have reached a concise and complete definition of intuitive weaving as of yet, but I’m forming a clearer idea of the process and how I want to approach and understand it. Also of broader ideas relating to intuition as part of a creative process.
RESEARCH AND LINKS
Danielle Garber (@everythreadhandwoven) • Instagram photos and videos Every Thread handwoven
Intuitive Weaving — Workshop — Earth Speak
INTUITIVE WEAVING | ANINIdesigns
Intuitive Weaving Workshop at MakingCo — Kate Kilmurray
https://katekilmurray.com/pages/aboutme
Intuitive Weaving at Henderson Studios — Fibershed
OmniPlus-i Connect airjet weaving machine | Picanol
Intuitive Weaving Workshop | Kids Out and About Los Angeles
Narrative Fabrics: Intuitive Weaving
Weaving tuition | Sedbergh | WildflowerWeaver
Intuitive Thread: The Beauty of Process in Japanese Textiles — Eloise Rapp also on Medium and Garland Magazine
https://www.lapuankankurit.fi/en/how-we-live?page=1
Mushin (mental state) — Wikipedia
Men Are Experts on Femininity Because They Need It | Alison Armstrong
https://www.amiewiberley.co.uk/blog/2023/3/8/saori-research-intuitive-threads
Intuitive Threads is a personal research and development project by textile artist Amie Wiberley. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Amie is a textile artist and holistic and creativity coach. Find out more at www.amiewiberley.co.uk. Sign up to the mailing list here.
