Artist Nick Cave combines sculpture, high fashion, dance, and culture into beautifully intricate pieces. The most famous is the wearable Soundsuits. KnollTextiles asked him to create a collection of fabrics, upholstery, and wallpaper. The task was to create something functional that would correspond to the essence of his unique work.
Soundsuits can best be described as dimensional fabrics created by layering, rearranging, and transforming everyday items such as beads, doilies, sequins, and synthetic fibers. The artist visits antique markets across the country to find special items for his work. For example, you can often find antique buttons on Soundsuits – this is Cave’s favorite detail. KnollTextiles used them to create a drape called Button in Trevira CS polyester with a natural light-to-dark gradient.
“I approached the collection the same way I approached college. Take many, many ideas and put them together,” the artist comments. The Doily upholstery adapts one of Cave’s maximalist pieces into an equally maximalist surface. This pattern uses two types of embroidery techniques at different scales, which are superimposed on a woven base with another pattern. The result is multidimensional and tactile.
Until’s organic fabric was inspired by one of Cave’s large spiderweb-beaded installations. Experienced embroiderers transferred the 3D product to a water-soluble base, which, after the disappearance of the canvas, leaves behind a two-color drapery.
The beading that Cave uses in the Soundsuit was the inspiration for the Big Floral wallcovering. It looks like a deliberately exaggerated mix of colors with incredible detail. It is almost a fresco, full of movement and depth. It was digitally printed onto a PVC-free cleanable whitening base and embossed.
Cave’s “Architectural Forest” installation was the inspiration for the Forest wallpaper. It is characterized by bright colors and abstract movement of motifs. A warp-lay primer technique was used in which the warp threads are laid flat and laminated onto a non-woven backing. Then a transfer print is applied to the surface. This allows for a surprising amount of vibrant colors.
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