Artist in Residence:
ETN member Esther Van Schuylenbergh
at the Textile Centre Haslach, AT

Report/Interview, Christina Leitner and Esther Van Schuylenbergh

We are very pleased that Belgian textile designer and ETN member Esther Van Schuylenbergh was the first guest as Artist in Residence at the Textile Centre Haslach from July 20 to August 19, 2021.

Esther Van Schuylenbergh (°1991) has a Master's degree in Textile Design from KASK School of Arts in Ghent. Shortly after graduating in 2014, she founded her own design studio where she focuses on the development of woven interior textiles. She has since been working with a wide range of manufacturers to develop woven textile collections for furnishings, curtains, floorings and wall coverings. Esther works and lives in Ghent, Belgium. Parallel to her work as a designer, she is teaching at the Textile Design department of KASK School of Arts in Ghent. 

Esther already initiated several experimental weaving projects in which she challenges the boundaries of the loom and often goes beyond the two-dimensional surface. Recently, her interest also shifted towards ‘off-loom’ techniques such as braiding and basketry, which can be considered as three-dimensional weaving techniques. With her extensive technical knowledge and experimental working method, she builds woven constructions, balancing on the border between textiles and objects. 

This is exactly where Esther's work in Haslach began. She worked for a month at the Haslach Textile Centre on the electronic jacquard loom to further develop her three-dimensional fabric structures. She received a CAD introduction, technical support on the weaving machine and accommodation was made available. Otherwise Esther worked independently and used the infrastructure of the house for her applied research.

It was a great pleasure for the team at the Textile Centre Haslach to see the professionalism with which Esther is involved in weaving and how one great design after another left the loom. Towards the end of her Residency, Esther showed her work to the team at the Textile Centre Haslach and answered a few questions:

CL: Esther, the three-dimensionality is typical for your fabrics. What are you interested in, where do your inspirations come from?

ES: I have always been fascinated by mathematical systems and geometric patterns. Due to its rectangular grid, these can also be found in the weaving technique. Within this grid there are some logic rules to follow, and everything should fit in the pre-determined system of the warp set-up. The inspiration for my woven developments usually comes from the technique itself, in which the technical possibilities and limitations stimulate my creativity.
During my design process on the handloom, I delve deep into the micro architecture of the weave constructions. I build fabrics by playing a game with materials and bindings. The use of contrast in both construction and material can shrink or expand the woven material, causing a deformation of the grid when the fabric has left the loom. I like to surprise myself and try to find balance between calculated planning and spontaneous experimentation. I usually sketch out the constructions and bring together materials with a specific idea about the result. However, each thread has its own character, so you never know exactly what the outcome of the interaction will be, especially when using after-treatments such as steaming, felting, pressing, etc. These coincidences and surprises drive me to push the boundaries of the technique.

CL: For which area of ​​application do you develop your fabrics and which materials are used?

ES: In both my commercial work for the industry and my experimentations, I have a strong focus on textile design for interiors. I like the idea that a textile can become an integral architectural part of a space, rather than be just a decorative addition. The textile becomes an object itself with its own function. It can solve architectural issues; create or divide space, block light, change acoustics, etc.
With this idea in mind, my aim was to create multi-layered, reversible fabrics with acoustic properties. By using a sturdy linen in the weft for the outer layers, and a shrink yarn for the inner layers, I obtained stiff and tubular three-dimensional constructions. When seen in space, interesting effects appear on the surface depending on the light and the angle of the viewer.

CL: How did your month in the Textile Centre Haslach go exactly? At what point did you start and where did your work take you during the month? How did your daily routine look like?

ES: Before I came to Haslach, I already started with the research on my dobby handloom in my studio. This was necessary to gain insight in the complex multi-layered structures, before starting on the jacquard power loom.
When arrived in Haslach, I started playing with different warp divisions and the position of the woven layers in simple, geometric patterns. I found out that, with jacquard technology, I could interlace the layers in two different patterns on each side. As such, I could create a diagonal line going in one direction on one side, and the opposite direction in the other. This way both lines meet and blend in a diagonal grid in the inner layer of the cloth.
Reminding me of the principle of weaving, I began to translate this idea into scaled-up weave structures. I created graphics of plain, twill and basket weaves in the CAD-software and converted them in the multi-layered weave structures in such way that they are interlacing like real weavings, with the reversed three-dimensional effect on the other side. Once I found the right scale and density, I started making variations in different patterns. I ended up with piles of research samples, and still, there is so much to discover within this technique. I continued with imitations of other textile techniques, such as braids and knits, and realized I could combine them with the weaves, and create even not existing textile structures.
Thanks to the full-time access to the jacquard loom, I could do profound research in a short time frame. I never had so much quality time with a jacquard loom to develop my own, artistic work. To be honest, my brain was going crazy by the endless possibilities of jacquard weaving and the speed of the power loom. I could hardly sleep at night. Fortunately, there were those nice daily forest walks for some reflection. I am going home with good results, new insights on my artistic practice, and lots of ideas for further development.

CL You also looked around the archive of the Textile Centre Haslach and came across some interesting things?

ES: The Textile Centre’s archive is incredible, I could spend some more weeks in Haslach, only in this room! Besides the amazing sample books of former weaving mills, I found a shelf with historic books of Austrian textile schools, filled with inspiring technical drawings of weavings and interesting information. One of the books contained beautiful, detailed drawings of scaled-up weave structures, they were a great inspiration for my project.

CL: How did you come across the Textile Centre Haslach in the first place?

ES: I heard so many good things about the Textile Centre from different people I met at fairs and exhibitions, that I had to inform about a potential collaboration. I am happy that my suggestion to do a residency came together with the plans of the Textile Centre to set-up a residency program for ETN members. I feel privileged and honoured I was the first designer to try out the program.

CL: We hope you will come again?

ES: I will come back soon, for sure! I definitely have to see the upcoming exhibition and need to dive into the other part of the archive. There is still so much to discover.
We are also making plans for a workshop on double weaving in the handweaving studio next summer. Maybe I will combine this opportunity with another, small residency. I would anyway love to stay connected to the Textile Centre and the European Textile Network.

CL: Thank you so much, Esther! It was such pleasure to have you here!

The Artist in Residence program for ETN members is to be expanded in Haslach in the future. In addition to the electronically controlled looms, there are also computer-controlled hand looms and a tufting equipment on which artists and designers work in the future. More information will follow.

Website Esther Van Schuylengergh:
https://www.esthervanschuylenbergh.be/