It was by chance I found her, hidden amongst a series of very thin books categorized by volume and titled, Portfolio Collection. Her binding read: Portfolio Collection Vol. 23, Virgina Davis, Tellos. When I opened her book* and started to flip through the pages, my heart nearly stopped.

*you can view the cover of the book and her artist website here, however, whenever I navigate there myself I am told the website is not secure. Proceed at your own risk!

Davis’s woven works are made with linen yarn, utilizing special techniques of painting with acrylic pigment and ikat to achieve stunningly rich grid patterns. Much of Davis’s work is inspired by scientific research, conceptual thinking and historical textiles. In the Portfolio Collection book it reads:

“Her themes, according to the artist, fall into three categories: the exploration of optical phenomena, landscape, and weaving techniques. Her resulting art work is an ongoing discourse about color theory, the shared grid of minimalist painting and woven textiles, visual rhythm and repetition, human perception, the disparity between painted and woven images, and the history of textile techniques and their human use.”

In one series, she started to explore the language of tartan plaid and its history. The Portfolio Collection describes these discoveries:

Originally all tartans were hand woven and dyed with local, natural dyes. The idea of a specific sett, or pattern of checks, being identified with a clan or family did not arise until much later, triggered by new technology. First, in the late 1700’s, the Industrial Revolution brought massive looms to Scotland, which allowed specific patterns to be reproduced with perfect accuracy and in great quantities. Then in 1856 aniline dyes were introduced and tartan patterns became set. These mass-produced, popular tartans were at first assigned numbers that were later replaced by names of prominent clans, families, and towns. As Davis went about her research, she discovered that there were established rules for the number and thickness of the stripes and that the prescribed weave structure is a 2/2 twill — guidelines she was to follow.

Davis’s process can vary, and she often switches between modes of painting and resist dyeing. Almost all of her work combines methods of manipulating both the warp and the weft, so that the pattern is fully integrated vertically (warp threads) and horizontally (weft threads). Some of her works are dyed with indigo through the traditional Japanese resist process kasuri (similar to ikat traditions seen in India and Mexico).

Although easy to weave, the design mastery to her woven work is otherworldly. Conceptually it feels subtle yet profound, and almost ephemeral in its nostalgic simplicity. From a technical standpoint, these works require hours of preparation: designing and planning the visual of the textile, preparing the threads for dye, (precisely) dyeing or painting the warp and weft threads, and lining it up correctly as it’s dressed onto the loom. The process is just as much a work of art as the artwork is itself.

If you’re interested in learning more about Davis, you can read this self-penned blog post for the Golden Gate Weavers Guild. You can also view a collection of stunning striped artworks on the Art Institute of Chicago website. Virgina Davis passed away in January of 2023. You can read a tribute written by her son, Harold Davis, here.