Today’s artist began her craft as a quiet creative outlet. Melbourne-based contemporary woven art maker, Maryanne Moodie, first picked up a loom on maternity leave, and never really put it down.
Creating some of the most compelling woven wall art being made in Australia today, her work sits somewhere between tapestry, sculpture and textile art. It explores landscape, memory, growth and resilience through thread and technique.
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What’s special about Maryanne’s artistic journey is that weaving found her.
“I live in Melbourne and I’ll be the first to admit that my path into fibre art and weaving wasn’t exactly planned!” laughs Maryanne.
“Before this life I was a primary school art teacher. Weaving actually found me while I was on maternity leave with my first son.
“I picked up a loom thinking it would be a little creative hobby and it completely took over my life in the best possible way. What started as a quiet outlet during nap times somehow turned into books, exhibitions, commissions and a full time art practice.”
I often joke that weaving chose me, not the other way around.”
“The fact that something I started at my kitchen table while my baby slept, and has connected me with people all over the world still amazes me.
“Art has given me community, purpose and a way of making sense of the world. That’s a pretty wonderful gift.”
Maryanne doesn’t create work that sits comfortably in one box.
“I would say my contemporary woven wall art occupies its own arena. Tactile, textural and deeply connected to the natural world,” she says.
“My woven artworks sit somewhere between tapestry, sculpture and textile art. I’m always interested in pushing traditional weaving techniques into new territory.
“I love taking the simplest building blocks of weaving and asking, What else can this become? Most of my work explores landscape, memory, growth, resilience and our connection to the natural world.
“I find inspiration while walking, travelling, gardening, sitting by the ocean, staring out a plane window, or noticing tiny details that most people just walk straight past.
“I’m also endlessly inspired by people and their stories. Some of my most meaningful works have come from conversations with collectors about a place, a memory or a season of life they’re moving through.”
The process to create her contemporary woven art pieces is equally instinctive.
“Most pieces begin with a feeling, rather than a sketch,” she explains. “I’ll collect colours, photographs, fibres and little visual references until something starts to emerge.
“Then I spend a lot of time auditioning yarns and materials before I even begin weaving. Once I’m on the loom, there’s a balance between planning and intuition. I usually know where I’m starting, but the work often tells me where it wants to go next.
The final stage is stepping back and editing. Sometimes the most important thing I do is take something away.
Maryanne’s woven textile artwork isn’t designed to be admired from a distance.
“I hope they exhale,” she says simply. “The world is loud, busy and demanding. I like the idea that my work might create a small moment of pause.
“I want people to feel grounded, comforted and connected. And maybe tempted to reach out and touch it, even though they’re probably not supposed to!
“One of the most meaningful pieces I’ve made recently was created during a particularly difficult period for my family. It was inspired by the way desert landscapes can appear lifeless for years and then suddenly burst into bloom after rain.
“That idea of resilience, recovery and beauty emerging after hardship felt very personal at the time. I think the works that stay with me longest are the ones that teach me something while I’m making them.”
We loved chatting with Maryanne about her beautiful contemporary woven wall art. And what an extraordinary creative practice she’s built from the ground up.
To see more of her work (and be completely inspired) visit her website or follow along on Instagram.
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