Becoming (Glow) – Jenny Waterson

I am an artist weaver exploring semiotics as a visual language. I am developing my own vocabulary of symbols in weave, using this to materialise themes of ambiguity, generational geographies, and human experience. My weaving reflects my experience as the mother of a young adult exploring their gender identity. Alongside their journey, I am navigating anew emotional landscape of my own. I weave transitional pattern and colour sequences to explore a new narrative around male/female identity and belonging. My weaving brings together old and new in a sampler format: Swedish folk motifs connecting back to my great-grandfather; iconography of identity politics connecting with my child now; and the X mark with its multilayered meanings of love, our chromosomes, the unknown, and treasure yet to be discovered. I am developing a variation of overshot weaving, replacing traditional geometrics with my own figurative motifs. This technique enables me to weave complex symbols on a 16-shaft hand loom, maximising placement and scale. I mix wool with other yarns like rayon and Lurex to create a colour palette I can use to convey layered meanings. For example, gold referencing Jung’s ‘gold in the darkness’ and the glow I see in my child as they become who they are.