From frosty, snow-covered birches to a jumble of the weaving industry as thrums ... scraps that would felted hot peppers, Martina Celerin’s “dimensional normally go into the trash or into the city dump.” weavings” look remarkably true to life, and that’s no Finally, when it comes to potential accent materi-accident. The trained biologist-cum-textile-artist did als, little escapes her notice. In her hands, a guitar postdoctoral work in genetics at Indiana University. string morphs into butterfly legs and antennae, bits
Photography by Tom Berolacini
“As a molecular geneticist, you really are trained of driftwood become faraway fence rows, and tiny to observe subtle, small changes and differences,” shells and fossils dot shorelines and landscapes. says Celerin, 43. “That training has allowed me to Whether it’s a stand of calla lilies or a row of just-really pay attention to details, so my work is biologi- sprouted beans, the Bloomington, Ind., resident cally accurate, and it’s symmetrical.” starts at the bottom of each piece and weaves her
A hybrid of weaving and fiber art sculpture, each way up. To form her signature sculpted elements, piece features a pristine — and often whimsical — she uses needle felting. natural scene. In And a Radish, a solitary radish, Nearly 200 dimensional weavings later, Celerin robust and red, thrives amidst a regiment of carrots. has elevated pack-ratdom to a science. Her studio “A lot of the gardening scenes come from our own is lined with boxes of yarn, carefully labeled by color, backyard — or the idealized version,” she says. and jars of sycamore balls, seashells, and crinoids,
In part to help preserve the real natural world, all sorted by size. “Sometimes I just think something Celerin puts repurposed materials at the heart of her is cool, and I’m not sure what I’m going to use it for,” works. The warp threads are polypropylene macramé she admits. “But I know it’s going to be useful for yarn (“It’s been sitting around since the Seventies, something.” —Susan Brackney and it’s just perfect for the warp”) and the weft is reclaimed yarn. “A lot of it I get from local weavers or
>> 3D weaving: martinacelerin.com
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