Structured Comfort – Waffle Weave

Heather Macali

Structured comfort represents the synthesis of cloth creation and systematic procedures. This concept entails the fabrication of an object – yarn – that provides support to another, achieved through the meticulous interlacements in a defined sequence. The result is a textile that evokes a sense of ease and dimensionality. In this talk, I will take you through my journey of cloth construction while discussing how my practice has shifted to focus on slowing down each process and engaging in every step possible to create the cloth, from spinning and dyeing the yarn to weaving it.

Bio – As a contemporary fiber artist Heather has focused primarily on color, pattern, texture, distortion, and memory. Her use of color and pattern arose out of childhood experiences steeped in the material culture of the Midwest in the 1980s and early 1990s. Macali’s work has been published in the books: Art Yellow Book #1 by Leejin Kim, Digital Jacquard Design by Julie Holyoke and Textiles: The Art of Mankind by Mary Schoeser. She worked in the fashion industry for four years as a Print and Pattern Designer at Abercrombie & Fitch and La Senza. Macali grew up in Munroe Falls, Ohio and received her Bachelor of Arts in Crafts from Kent State University. She continued her art research and development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison receiving her Master of Fine Arts – Textiles in 2009. Macali currently resides in Detroit, Michigan working as a fiber artist and an Associate Professor at Wayne State University.