BEATA WIETRZYŃSKA
“The thought that someone is using or wearing something I’ve woven makes me smile”
Beata Wietrzyńska
Beata Wietrzyńska is a Warsaw based master weaver with 20 years of experience in…psychology. Her textiles are characterised by immersive, rhythmically arranged patterns and three-dimensional textures. All pieces are uniquely handmade and embrace contemporary aesthetic suitable for variety of applications from interiors to wearable. We meet on zoom in a midst of her busy autumn season. She is currently weaving a new commission of textiles for a Polish designer Magda Butrym, with whom she actively collaborates since 2015. Her textiles took part in a number of exhibitions and installations internationally.
She is also a co-founder of NOW. New Craft Poland association bringing together contemporary craftspeople devoted to sustainable practices in a variety of handicraft disciplines. Her story proves it is never too late to follow your passion and embark on creative career.
“I am fascinated by complexity of the weaving process, the meditative repetition of movements and most of all unlimited opportunities to design and to create. Hours of working with variety of threads, textures, colour and patterns, passing through fingers kilometres of yarn results in something magic – a piece of fabric.”
Even though Beata switched her career to textile in 2013, craft made its appearance in her life much earlier on. She recounts seeing her grandmother’s loom at the attic. "My grandmother used to make rugs and linen cloth on a traditional loom. Needlework was always present in my family home" she says. Then in the 90s a scholarship enabled her to pursue studies in woven textiles at the Centre Européen pour la Promotion des Arts in Luxembourg. This experience completely changed her perception of weaving.
“Coming from Poland in the early 90s, it was an exotic adventure to be there. The fabrics, colours, patterns differed a lot from folk fabrics I knew. They were contemporary (…) I came to realise you can weave whatever you want it doesn’t have to be a rug, the form was free”. Upon her return to Poland, she put her excitement and freshly acquired skills on hold for almost two decades. She didn’t find it to be a fertile ground for handcraft at that time. It wasn’t until 2010 when weaving reemerged in her life again, this time for good. “Throughout those years I always had it in the back of my mind. In the beginning I saw it as a hobby, but eventually it became more important to me than my work at that time - running workshops and coaching people.”
She recalls a weaving course in Finland as an eye opening experience. “The popularity and approach to weaving there was very interesting to see. The craft scene was so alive there!”. The workshop was focused on recycling and upcycling textiles in a modern way too what she found very insightful as the topic of sustainability just didn’t quite exist in Poland back then yet.
Magda Butrym, leno, SS18, courtesy of Beata Wietrzyńska
Around the same time she started blogging about her practice and inspiration. It was through her blog in 2014 that she got approached by Magda Butrym and their fruitful collaboration started. “She was on a look out for artisans to work on her collections. Thanks to this collaboration I could develop my weaving in such a contemporary direction. (…) I was only at the beginning of my weaving journey and it was really an abstraction to see how designer envisions a completely new form for my textiles. It was fascinating!”.
When people think about weaving, they think about the actual process of throwing a shuttle. In fact, larger proportion of the activity is devoted to design and then preparation of threads with a fair share of maths and planning involved in the process. Some say that those preparations form the essence of weaving. It is what connects the practitioner with the natural matter and gives the work a unique, personal dimension.
“Weaving process is a form of trance, meditation. But meanwhile you have to stay focused and concentrate. Beginnings were difficult, especially when I encountered errors.. and getting angry never helped!” Beata recalls. “Following all those years of practice though, I feel more immune to stress and live more relaxed life in general.”
leno weaving process
Reminiscing on her beginnings she admits: “It also took me some time to adjust to a change of work environment. From my psychology practice, a hustle and bustle, people all around, discussions… I landed on my own. Just me and threads. I would spend whole hours just with them!” she says laughing. Her textiles often contain a distinctive rhythmic element. “Texture is key - I look for types of 3D weaves composed in an intriguing rhythm rather than figurative patterns”. Working on wide harness looms up to 10 shafts long allows her to combine variety of weaves and patterns within one piece. Most recently she started working with a computer controlled loom too. “It is a lot of work in a programme, but it is great for simulations and speeds up the process - especially when experimenting with new techniques.” And she does experiment a lot.
Beata’s eloquent use of colour is drawn from nature and nuances of light and shade. “The phenomena of iridescence in textiles passionates me a lot too”.
four-colour double-weave
Deflected double-weave is one of her favourite techniques and she speaks about it with great passion. “I enjoy playing with different takes on double-weave such as four colour double-weave. Instead of two colours - one negative and one positive there are two warps and two different wefts. So 4 new colours appear! It is all about right colour combination to arrive with better depth and more satisfying contrast in a fabric.”
Her work features beautiful lacy, gauze weaves too such as bead leno, which was previously used in Magda Butrym’s collections for tailoring pieces. Beata’s preferred materials are natural fibres like wool, linen, silk or cotton. Embracing the spirit of less waste, she uses high quality end of stock yarns.
linen weaving process
Weaving involves hours of practice spent in a complete solitude. Therefore, Beata enjoys and seeks interactions with fellow artists and designers as frequently as possible. Recently in 2021 we could see Beata’s work as part of the Polish Pavilion at the London Design Biennale. An exhibition "The Clothed Home: Tuning In To The Seasonal Imagination" designed by Alicja Bielawska featured her beautiful textiles of subtle colour gradients.
deflected double-weave, photo by Kama Rokicka
NOW. New Craft Poland association which she co-founded with fellow Polish artisans is an important project for her. Belonging to such a likeminded community gives her a vital space to exchange ideas, conceptions and visions. Moreover, it is a platform to promote Polish handcraft in its contemporary form that she believes in - not only as a museum relict, or a folk artefact anymore.
Her vision of Polish handcraft is luxurious, refined piece of clever design relevant to modern space and customer. When asked about her future plans, Beata shares “My point of focus for years was the function. While right now I do look more into free-form pieces for variety of use too. I have a lot of ideas saved ‘for later’”. My dream is to eventually have enough time to go back to them and bring them all to life.” she says laughing.
Follow Beata’s Instagram to catch up with her latest projects here. And if Polish artisanship piqued your interest discover more about NOW. New Craft Poland here.