In collaboration with the TextielLab, Dutch textile and fashion designer Lola van Praag developed a series of wall hangings for the exhibition ‘Soft!’ in the Rademakers Gallery in Amsterdam. Van Praag drew inspiration for the work from her own surroundings: the flower bulb region between Haarlem and Leiden.
In developing the wall hangings, Van Praag extensively researched two techniques: six-colour jacquard and double-cloth knitting. In the TextielLab, she first looked at an effective way of converting her drawings of tulips, bouquets and a bulb peeler (who removes young bulbs from the larger bulbs) into these two techniques. This required working with various complex yarns and pushing the physical limits of the knitting machine by combining yarns of different quality, such as organic cotton, wool, polyester and Lurex, in one work. In the case of the polyester and Lurex, recycled yarns were used, as Van Praag likes to work with more sustainable materials. The mix of different quality yarns created both subtle and prominent texture in the knits. The process resulted in three works: one double-cloth knit and two six-colour jacquards.
