Weaving Memory — From Paper Threads to Textile Landscapes

vmramshur
May 19
3 min read

Woven Narratives: Paper, Memory, and the Spaces Between

This post discusses incorporating narrative into Aerial Rorschach through paper weaving. Although I am not a traditional textile weaver (though I aspire to learn loom weaving one day), I am captivated by the tactile potential of found objects, fabric remnants, and painted paper. These fragments convey stories — and they weave.

Woven Landscape, 2025: An interplay of paper and acrylics that form a geometric tapestry, seamlessly blending textures and shades.

Before I ever started using a needle, I worked with paper. I used strips of hand-painted colors, remnants from collage projects, and photocopied pieces of landscapes as my warp and weft. Weaving provided what collage could not: rhythm, structure, and tension. It offered a framework for memory to find its place.

Aerial Rorschach Mosaic: A topographic abstraction woven from aerial photographs over New Mexico and Texas, capturing the intricate interplay of natural textures and earth tones.

At first, I worked quickly and intuitively — pressing one texture against another, interlacing only paper. Later, I began introducing fiber and cloth, stitching into and across the woven surfaces. These hybrid constructions became studies for larger textile landscapes — not literal topographies, but memory terrains where color and emotion interlocked.

The process is both meditative and architectural. Like laying bricks. Like reconstructing the broken. Each intersection becomes a choice:What do I reveal? What do I bury? What do I allow to flicker through the gaps?

Geometric abstraction meets digital distortion in "Fractured Axis, 2025," where black, white, and textured squares culminate in a warped, dual perspective.

Abstract composition reflecting the depths of the Aegean and Adriatic seas, woven into a dynamic tapestry of blue and silver hues.

A woven collage titled "Stop Staring" (2025) combines acrylic, magazine, and paper to create an intricate pattern of interlocking shapes in red, white, and black, subtly depicting eyes—an invitation to explore themes of observation and witness.

As in my costume design work, I seek the space that holds tension. The places between what is seen and unseen is where the story lives. What I choose to reveal or conceal becomes part of the narrative. It's not just about the materials — it's about the pauses between them. The negative space, the quiet seams, the places where the weave doesn’t quite meet — these are where meaning accumulates. The gaps are not empty; they are charged. They hold the ambiguity, the memory, the breath between ideas. Often it is a script, a piece of music that dictates these spaces. However, engaging with and producing work in different media also offers this benefit. Thus, spaces, gaps, and pauses are not just metaphorical but also practical in the creative process.

"Firebreather, 2025," featuring an intricate weave of paper, acrylics, and photography, capturing a vivid sense of energy and rage through fiery tones and contrasting textures.

"Eyes Toward Heaven " this collage merges elements of fresco art and architectural motifs, illustrating the awe of sacred spaces with its rich colors and intricate patterns. Paper, Acrylic Paints, Photographs.

In this post, I’m discussing my experiments with woven paper, which have evolved to assist me in "composing" with fabric more intuitively. These are layered impressions — visual remnants of the environments I've experienced or carried with me, and stories that are waiting to be shared.