Peg Moorhouse - 'Colour & Light'
The Top Floor, 13th January–6th February 2010
For over forty years Piction based weaver Peg Moorhouse has practiced the ancient and timeless art of weaving. The items in this exhibition of her current work are all hand woven on her Oxaback loom which she purchased in Sweden when on a study tour with a group of weavers in 1992. This method involves a really complicated “drawloom” process which is used to produce fine damask weaving. As it is a highly skillful practice it is utilized by only three or four New Zealand weavers.
Although the damask loom most commonly produces monochromatic fabric designs, rather than maintain this more rigid or traditional approach Peg has evolved her own distinctive technique. The concept of experimentation and invention does not at first appear to fit neatly into various technical categories that have evolved from this craft but it is clearly a desire to achieve a more highly individualised expression which all contributes to this crafts woman’s ability to create work that continues to remain fresh and lively.