why i weave

When I was ten I made a plaster carving of a smiling fish. I can still feel my mom’s delight and wonder when I presented her with my creation. Today, I weave in order to re-create that moment of delight, of wonder, and the discovery of the special in the everyday. I am making tangible objects that can be shared, and held, and may bring joy to the viewer.  I am trying to get back to the feeling of creating for the sake of creating.

I am an architect and educator by training and profession. Basketry is like architecture in that the viewer has first-hand experience with both a basket and a building. It is this familiarity with the art form that makes basketry (like architecture) approachable, and immediately creates the possibility of engaging the viewer with the work.

Unlike architecture, basketry affords me singular and relative control of the creative process, from concept through final weaving. My investigation lies within this process of creation; a process that moves from the imagination to the physical, between the structural and free-formed, existing for both function and as art. With my hands I bend the spokes and weavers, attempting to realize what lies in my imagination. The process is simultaneously straightforward and yet limitless.

 
At work in the studio                                              

At work in the Up on the Porch Roof studio                                             

Through iteration, my work attempts to explore ideas of form and space, material and pattern. Of these, pattern, created through the repetition of the weave, may be the most intriguing. I believe a basket’s weave speaks to patterns found in our natural world, and brings with it a sense of calm and beauty. This parallel brings about an understanding, allowing the viewer to further engage the work at hand. Once engaged, my hope is that the craftsmanship and design of a basket holds the viewer through a sense of wonder.

Baskets are at once ordinary and extraordinary. They are real and accessible, and can be appreciated without any training or weaving experience. In the end I want the viewer to literally experience the work first-hand: to pick it up, hold it, flip it over, feel the textures, contemplate the patterns, and sense the space within. I want you to look and look again and look again…

 

Selected Exhibition History

Solo & Group Exhibitions

  • BASKETRY MATERIALITY / Re-Popped Gallery / Augusta, ME / August 2020 - A solo exhibit of recent basketry work done in paper, white oak, reed, chenille, and black ash

  • MONOZUKURI / Arundel Farm Gallery / Arundel, ME / May 2018 - A group show of Japanese-influenced design work including “Knot Baskets” and “Sake Set”

  • I WEAVE: RECENT WORK BY ERIC STARK / PopUp 265 / Augusta, ME / March 2017 - A solo exhibit of recent basketry work done in reed, bamboo, and black ash

  • RAW SPACE / Augusta Downtown Alliance / Augusta, ME / May 2017 - invited as part of the Augusta Art Walk to present work and demonstrate basket-making techniques

  • ARCHITECTS: ON THE INSIDE / Danforth Gallery / Augusta, ME / October 2015 - A group show of UMA Architecture faculty presenting creative work done outside of professional practice. Exhibited work in basketry, wood, pottery, and paper

Juried Exhibitions

  • ART2021, The Harlow’s 26th Annual Juried Show / Harlow Gallery / Hallowell, ME / April - May 2021 - exhibited “Scales”

  • ART2020, The Harlow’s 25th Annual Juried Show / Harlow Gallery / Hallowell, ME / May - June 2020 - exhibited “Urchin Basket”

Open Exhibitions