Cécilia Lusven

Leather woven artwork with blue and black color gradient on wood

2022

Cécilia Lusven is a San Francisco based French artist who graduated from ENSCI, Les Ateliers (Ecole Nationale Supérieur de Création Industrielle) in Paris in 2013. Her studies introduced her to industrial textile design which allowed her to explore the art of hand weaving. Lusven worked as a wallpaper designer and as a weaver for others before committing fulltime to her craft of hand weaving. She moved to San Francisco, where she currently works. Through her work, Lusven aims to illuminate the dedication and intricacy that lies at the heart of weaving. Each piece is a testament to the laborious process, where every hand-cut fringe is meticulously inserted, one by one, revealing the journey of each thread – coiled, warped, beamed, threaded, tensed, and finally woven. Lusven’s work challenges the trivialization of the textile practice brought on by industrialization, by bringing together art and the common. Lusven uses discarded materials or scraps of leather to echo this devalued textile practice. These materials are transformed through her hands as she hand-cuts then handweaves them with dead stock linen threads from shoemaking or bookbinding. Lusven’s process is not just about reclaiming materials; it’s about revealing the inherent beauty and value in them. Through her commitment and craftsmanship, Lusven elevates the art of textile from the forgotten to the revered. Lusven’s work was selected to be part of the de Young Open 2023. Unforgotten is Lusven’s first large-scale duo exhibition in San Francisco.