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Constructivist Textile Patterns
PrintResearch 2024
In this print and the accompanying research paper, I worked to examine designer Lyubov Popovas's formative influences, and assess her aspirations for a new Constructivist mode of production.
I began this endeavor by familiarizing myself with Popova’s vast catalog of textile designs, attempting to unearth the rhythms of her creation, and the organizational principles underlying each composition. During this process, I found myself characterizing her works within a distinct set of qualities: some maintained a balance of organic and rigid forms, others demonstrated a Cubist disruption of space, and many patterns reflected a reliance on the structure and repetition of the Cartesian grid. Having consolidated these ideas, I then set out to produce three patterns of my own.
For the final product, I hoped to imbue my understanding into a tryptic, with each pattern reflecting the distinct characteristics of Popova’s textile designs, and the many influences guiding her creation. The left pattern was inspired by the organizational structure of her Textile Design with Truncated Triangles, and attempts to emphasize the Cubist qualities of her work. The central pattern works to articulate the Futurist influences within her work, and the Constructivist material relationships vital to its structure. The right pattern calls attention to the underlying gendering of Popova’s work, embracing the curves of a perfect circle, and rendering the Soviet woman abstract.