Gesture From CC-Tapis

Gesture is the theme and name given to a collective of 5 new projects developed by cc-tapis in 2020. Each project explores how the motion of hands and tools can quietly lead the creative process, creating entirely new aesthetic languages. The movements, actions and expressions of Patricia Urquiola, Philippe Malouin, Sabine Marcelis, Mae Engelgeer and Yuri Himuro.

PATCHA by Patricia Urquiola

Patcha is a collection of hand-knotted rugs made from Himalayan wool and recycled silk.

Utilizing the patch-work spontaneity of mixed-media collage, Urquiola expresses the gesture of overlapping and assembles strips of mint green, lavender, taupe, burgundy and speckled technicolor fields. Layering one atop another to create inventive graphic compositions.

STROKE by Sabine Marcelis

Each room is envisioned as a blank canvas and the rug as the singular gesture onto which one builds a composition. Starting from these domestic associations, Marcelis considers the expressive potential of everyday life.

“The rugs I designed for cc-tapis capture two of those gestures in a permanent state ”

she says of her creative process, which also took cues from Lichtenstein’s pop-art brushstroke paintings and the colorful fields of Pablo Tomek’s spontaneous movements, harnessing the totality of the gesture within each design.

Each rug features a gradient of color saturation and pile height, mirroring the three-dimensionality and irregular pigment of a stroke of paint

CULITVATE by Yuri Himuro

The Cultivate Collection for cc-tapis is a collection of hand-woven rugs using wool, created in India using a pitloom technique. Based on her innovative textile project Snip Snap — a jacquard pattern whose design only becomes apparent when the woven threads are snipped, revealing a double structure within the textile — Himuro explores the creative potential found in the act of cutting.

“the texture of each rug must be individually cultivated”

The opportunity to personalize each rug, she believes, will bring joy to people and create a sense of emotional attachment towards their belongings.

MINDSCAPE by Mae Engelgeer

Mae Engelgeer’s Mindscape collection investigates gesture in the digital realm.

Engelgeer is a textile designer based in Amsterdam, Holland. A master in materials and color, her work is where craft and fascination merge. With Mindscape, she ventures into an alternate universe, revealing a scenography of extraordinary pastel color combinations.

Rendered in wool, silk and linen, the contrasting materials provide textural variations that mirror the design. Different techniques are used to create depth and space to reveal a calm and synergetic dreamscape.

LINES by Philippe Malouin

Lines began through experimenting and sketching with wax crayons. Philippe Malouin instinctively traced parallel lines and focused on the irregularity created by the crayons. The design evolved through trial and error with the final aesthetic being very much part of an experimental process.

Working closely with art-director Daniele Lora, special Tibetan craftsmanship was combined with a clever “dip-dying” technique for coloring the Himalayan wool. The combination of which achieved the same imprecise feeling of the original drawings, irregular lines with soft and uneven tones. This irregularity is accentuated during production when one weaver takes over from another. Each weaver uses a different ball of yarn which results in a “glitch” in the design which starts to take a stylistic shape of its own, giving the same impression of when drawing with wax crayons. A particular feature that makes each rug completely unique from each another. The perfect mixture of vision, design, and craftsmanship, Lines is a minimal yet essential collection of rugs with a very simple off-white and monochromatic color palette.

Philippe Malouin is a Canadian designer based in London. His diverse portfolio includes tables, rugs, chairs, lights, art objects and installations.