IKAT

Henrike Monninger

The rug IKAT by Henrike Monninger was made using a technique based on the ikat weaving technique. In ikat textiles the yarn is dyed in sections before the weaving process. This leads to a planned pattern with imprecise edges, which are caused by the yarns shifting a little bit against each other.

In order to reinterpret this technique, Henrike Monninger experimented with different ways of adding color to the weft thread like dying or textile printing. Unlike ikat fabrics, no precise pattern is planned, but the pattern is created by the displacement of the weft yarns, which develops as a result of the ratio of the length of the weft yarns to the width of the fabric. Depending on this a narrower or wider zigzag pattern is created. Because of the many variables affecting the textile, there is always some element of chance in the process. This results in small irregularities in the pattern, which sets the textile apart from industrially manufactured mass products and makes it something unique.