Rhiannon Griego
After designing jewelry for four years, California artist Rhiannon Griego had an itch for something new. She had expressed an interest in weaving to a friend, who immediately gave her the name of a teacher. That was seven years ago, and now when Griego is asked what she does, she responds with weaver.
Based in Ojai, California, Griego works in a Saori style, which was created by a Japanese weaver in 1969. “It’s a freeform weaving style, and when it was started it was a bit of a revolt from traditional weaving,” Griego says, adding that her works is rooted in the Wabisabi aesthetic of imperfection. “Because Saori is freeform, it has a very man-made component. Everything is intended to be there. There are no mistakes. It can be very loose and quite organic.”
Comparing it to Navajo weaving, which many Western art fans will be more familiar with, Griego uses a smaller loom and her patterns are less mathematical and rigid. The work she produces is lighter and looser, and her materials include not just wool, but also cotton, alpaca and raw hemp. But the basic components are the same: she’s still taking a material and weaving it into a finished piece of cloth. “Freeform weaving has a lot of freedom, in the material and designs,” she says. “In the past I’ve used wire to create dimension and shape, and I’ve woven with a plastic bag… anything is possible.”
Her works include fine art pieces that are meant to hang on a wall, as well as works that are meant to be worn, anything from capes and kimonos to ponchos and jackets. Her clients range across a wide spectrum of people,
“mostly people who love something that is one of a kind,” she says. “They want something unusual, something that no one else has. Sometimes people just want something that is made by hand.”
Griego takes custom orders, which usually take two to three months to finish, and she also offers work available on her website and social media platforms. Currently she is working on a series of large fine art pieces that she will debut in 2020.