Gareth Williams

I was first attracted to basketry about eight years ago by the sculptural potential of basketry techniques. I have a longstanding interest in sculpture, having completed a multidisciplinary Fine Art degree in 1992. Since completing the two-year basketry course at City Lit in 2013, particular themes have developed in my work. The two main ones are to do with form and surface pattern.

I have been looking at how forms in simple check-weave are affected by the placement of corners and the insertion of additional corners and weaving elements. This is an extension of standard methods of making skewed and multi-footed forms. 

I am also interested in what you might call self generated patterns.  In the simplest sense, I have been taking advantage of the unpredictable geometric patterns generated when plaiting paper printed with simple stripes.  More complex patterns can be generated following the instructions for mathematical devices known as cellular automata, which can generate complex non-repeating sequences. So far, I have mostly explored these in drawings. They can be used for plaiting but are better suited to coiling or twining. My most recent works have been exploring the possibilities of cellular automata with two colour twining. (I cannot claim to fully understand the mathematics of these systems but I really enjoy applying them to basketry.) 

Follow me on instagram @gareth_basketeer