ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
next step is to create the weave structures and choose yarn types. Computer
editing work follows and combines the
art with the technical requirements to
make the end product.”
Early on, Mancini was drawn to the field
of textile design: “In art school, I found
an affinity towards the fiber department.
Due to the refined aesthetics of textiles,
the process requires that you combine
color, texture, pattern, structure and
hand, all working together to design and
fabricate a beautiful product. It also uses
both sides of the brain, mixing creativity
with math skills.” The National Endowment of the Arts grant he received in
1980 for his hand woven fabric designs
remains the only one ever awarded for
fabric design.
Favorite tools include his boxes of
color poms (“I’m like a kid with a
crayon box!”) and EAT, a fabric design
software which replaces designing
weaves on point paper. Regarding
color palettes, Mancini notes that,
“Color is a moving target. In a particular fabric season, the colors selected at
the beginning slowly evolve into different shades by the end of the season.
That’s how the next season becomes
new, a constant flow of evolution.”
Mancini loves many fabric types, especially “anything with interesting and
unusual weaves, whether a jacquard,
dobby, velvet or frise.”
Mancini indulges his passion for gardening in his backyard greenhouse in
Charlotte, where he nurtures plants
and exotic trees. The greenhouse also
houses finches, a guinea pig and a pair
of rabbits. “It’s a utopic world where
all coexist happily. This environment
calms and refreshes me,” he explains.
Mancini also is interested in humanitarian concerns. He recently partnered with
Due Process Stable Trading Company
and ARZU STUDIO HOPE to produce
a collection of handmade rugs craf ted by
highly skilled Afghan women weavers.
ARZU STUDIO HOPE is a not-for-profit
organization which supports women
in rural villages of Afghanistan by providing social benefits and fair wages
Women hand spinning wool after it has
been washed. (Nepal)
APRIL MAY 2014
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