At a 3D Textiles masterclass in the TextielLab, Conny Groenewegen became fascinated by the digital flatbed knitting machine. During the masterclass, the Japanese designer and artist Yushiki Hishinuma demonstrated how 3D art objects and clothing can be produced completely ‘finished’; the desired shape is knitted from the yarn, without seams or the need for finishing. Groenewegen saw this process as spatial drawing, in which the entire image is created from a single line. In knitting, the shape and application of the fabric are ‘built’ from the yarn, one stitch at a time, with the shape ‘simply’ the sum of the material, yarn and the way it is used, without the need for anything else.
Simple and effective, intrinsic and irreversible; Groenewegen not only goes a step further in her designs but pushes the possibilities of the machine and design, and thus the wearer, to the extreme. The surface and shape do not serve the body by accentuating, correcting or hiding it, but allow you to see right through the skin. Her knitted garments turn the body inside out. Groenewegen sees this as an exercise in complete freedom, unimpeded by any commercial purpose. This makes her designs bold, uncompromising and richly tactile. She calls the result ‘soft-tech’.
Groenewegen’s design process is guided by contrasting material properties, such as closed versus open, rigid versus flexible and hard versus soft. An example of this is her use of elastic yarn, which creates volume by contracting. Felted wool leads to shrinkage and makes a fabric compact and heavy, while silk in an openwork knit has an airy quality and adds supple movement. In turn, metal yarn adds strength and shine. By dyeing the knitted fabric a single colour, Groenewegen creates a visual unity and tranquillity in the various properties that together determine the design’s shape and drape. In this almost sculptural way, she uses the knitting machine to create individual garments and entire collections.
The way of working in this sample is atypical for Groenewegen, because the piece was 3D programmed and the shape was less controlled by the yarn.
After studying fashion design and visual arts, Conny Groenewegen started drawing. Fascinated by the clear line, she made wall-sized drawings of landscapes with gossamer pencil lines. Making these works spatial – converting them from 2D to 3D, from line to thread and vice versa – is a recurring theme in her work. Bringing her expertise in fashion, knitting and sculpture, Groenewegen enters into collaborations in which she challenges and is likewise challenged. Her work is also an invitation to look at recognisable, archetypal forms in a different way and to keep redefining them.
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