Interview with Lydia Predominato

Lydia Predominato’s artistic career began with her first exhibition at the Gubbio Biennial in  1976.

In 1985 her work “Solid Speech Puzzle” was admitted to the Lausanne Biennale and from

there began her journey to becoming a prolific artist of international renown.

Her textile works can now be found in private collections and museums such as the

National Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Arts and Traditions, both in Rome.

Teacher at the Academy of High Fashion “Koefia” and professor of weaving at the School ofOrnamental Arts in the City of Rome for over twenty years, Lydia, amongst various other activities, has also collaborated as curator for the exhibitions Off Loom I and Off Loom IIheld in the capital in 2000 and 2017.

Below is the link to the artist’s website:

http://www.lydiapredominato.net

Lydia, many of your textile works reveal a close vicinity to conceptual art. They are avant-garde textile art, beyond the traditional boundaries of Fiber Art and show an interesting affinity with visual arts. Works such as “TessutiTelevisivi” (Television Fabrics), “Solid Speech Puzzle” and “PagineTessili” (Textile Pages) are clear examples.
Can you tell us about it? 

Television Fabrics were derived from the experimentation made in the late ’70s. My intention was tocombine classic weaving techniques with the most sophisticated existing multimedia. A copper warp was mounted onto a 17th century loom at the City of Castello museum, and connected to the antenna of an unshielded television set, so that every stroke of the comb on the loom caused interference on the monitor. A photographer took these pictures which were then printed on photo sensitive canvases or utilized for projects on the loom. Thus, we produced images and reprocessed them to create still newer images.

In the mid-80s I experiment edoninter action between sound and tactility in textile art. Using a microphone connected to a computer I pronounced textile words printing thegraphic so obtained in a two or three dimensional mode. The graphic image was photographed and printed on photosensitive canvases where I then intervened with textiles. The words so became threedimensional. “Textile Pages” began the research for the artist’sbook.

What role did the loom play and what role does it still play in your artistic expressionof today?

It was the starting point to go off loom. I still used it to make the “Cencione”. And again for a limited production of scarves and shawls. Weaving is beautiful.

“Cencione”, materiali tessili riciclati e tessuti a mano su telaio artigianale, copyright Lydia Predominato

Based on you significant experience as an artist and teacher of textile arts, what is the main difference, in your opinion, between a craftsman and a textile artist?

The work must contain a message.

Which of your works do you consideryourmost representative and which do feel most most attached to?

I would place the “Puzzle”, my first international work at the Lausanne Biennale first, afterthat “Long Life to Fiber Art” and lastly “Femicide”.

The theme on the labyrinth is a symbol and a concept often present in your work, “Spirale” (Spiral) and “Via Di Uscita per un CuoreTrattenuto” (Way out for a Restrained Heart) comes to mind. What is the meaning?

Before tackling the labyrinth I studied fortwo years; it’s a video of mine made in 2007.  The labyrinth is a path of awareness and renewal (after leaving).

“Spirale-Labirinto”, 2006, tarlatana, carta di riso, plexiglas, manipolazione, tecnica personale, 90cm x 90cm x 10cm, copyright Lydia Predominato

“Via di Uscita Per un Cuore Trattenuto”, 2012, tela fotosensibile, filo di ferro, fili vari, fibra da imbottitura, telo di lino, stampa, tecnica dell’avvolgimento, graffio, cucitura, 170cm x 110cm x 10cm, copyright Lydia Predominato

Lydia, as already mentioned in the introduction to this interview,you have and still play animportant part, with numerous merits in the panorama ofFiber Art, not only as an artist but as an organizer and promoter of important events in this sector. Can you tell us about this experience?

I work both as an artist and curator. I feel it’s almost my duty to make my art known and to further my students.

On the basis of your experience, what roles and spaces does Fiber Artoccupyin the Italian art scene today? 

They are finally growing. There are many young people who have undertaken this artistic path. (see Valcellina Prize and the Spoleto Biennial)

“Catalogo Combusto dei Materiali Tessili” (BurntTextileCatalogue).How was this work born and what inspired it?

This work is for an exhibition at the House of Remembrance and was dedicated to all the victimsburned in textile factories and alsocatalogued the burnt weaves.

Can you tell us about “Feminicide”?

This work is part of a series of so-called political works.  First there was “We have no more bows to our arrows”, “Dialogue Erotique” and another work that I will present at the MacroAsilo Museum in my week of atelier (April 30 – May 5).