INTARSIACORE

2025 - Present

Statement

~core is usually about aesthetic trends, or pop culture, and music. Knitting, like weaving, is a three-dimensional process that manipulates yarn into three-dimensional structures. The term Intarsiacore is more importantly about the technique required to create this aesthetic.

Knitting, unlike weaving, remains in the realm of craft and domestic textiles. Intarsia in particular is expensive to make. Some machines can automate the process, but ultimately the best work is made by skilled craftspeople on manual knitting machines or completely by hand.

My goal is to take intarsia knitting to a higher art form. I designed the Tigerbob motif in 2022 with the goal of recreating my designs in full-color knit with the intarsia technique. I’ve spent the last four years designing textiles and garments with a variety of color work knitting techniques. My newest body of work pushes the limits of the human hand on the manual machine. I choose to work intarsia on the machine because I feel a similarity with tapestry weaving techniques.

Pixel art shares a common, ancient, and nearly identical structural foundation to textile charts. (See Grid Inputs for more information.) As shown with my past projects Undulation, Tigerbob Mystery Garden, and Tigerbob Charm Packs, pixel art is the input of the work and ultimately the architecture of the design’s output in all mediums. Transposing the work from chart to object is the primary process addressed in this body of work. 

Presentation

My intarsia work is heavily inspired by detailed patterning in vintage textiles and rugs. Design work for intarsia pieces is interpreted from hand-drawn designs to pixel art and formatted for knitting with grid and charting processes, which often involve generative art and coding with JavaScript (p5js). Learn more about the visual language here. See DESIGN: PIXEL ILLUSTRATIONS for more information about my pixel art designs.

The scale of the work is determined by the dimensions of the knit stitches. I focus on small works (less than 14”) to explore a small section of a design and sample a greater number of color ways. Mid-size works (less than 30”) are complete compositions.

These pieces are composed mostly of cashmere yarn, with some blends including wool, cotton, alpaca, and other natural fibers. This is the same yarn used in my handmade apparel and sometimes the made-to-order fashion line. Pieces are stretched over wood frames or sewn and stuffed with fiber filling.

Further Reading

MACHINE KNITTING - My background and purpose for using this process in my work.

GRID INPUTS - A detailed description of the invisible charts necessary to construct the artwork.

VISUAL LANGUAGE - A mostly complete description and history about the style of the artwork.

FIBERS (2014-2024) - A selection of fiber art preceding knit explorations created for Tigerbob.

DESIGN & PROCESS: Review the PROCESS: MACHINE KNITTING section of this page for a behind-the-scenes look.