Doug Adesko: Woven String Works

For the past couple of years, I've been noodling around with a side project - photographing constructions made in my studio from thread, wood, fabric and various other simple materials. Having been mostly homebound for going on two weeks now, I’ve started to give this work more concentrated focus. I've been fascinated by the idea of using simple materials in my small space to make images that feel delicate and carefully constructed but also open and expansive.

It’s gratifying to work through a process and come out of it with an interesting photograph, but in the case of this project, I think the process itself is really what draws me in. By nature I'm not a careful person, and a degree of intentional sloppiness and accident has always felt like an important characteristic in my work. But somehow I’m drawn to building these intricate, fragile constructions. I get lost in the repetition of threading particular patterns and time disappears. Typically I work through a pattern until I get bored or make too many mistakes, then layer on another pattern. The interplay between my planned-out patterns and the mistakes I make in executing them seems like an important ingredient. As the layers combine, geometric compositions emerge along with fields of color. I work through layering patterns and colors and
photograph along the way.