Cagney Nay
owner, designer, maker
Hi, I'm Cagney and I'm the owner and creator at Chickpea Studio Weave. I live in Los Angeles with my two daughters and a variety of small animals (update: one not-so-small dog).
I design and create woven art. All of my pieces are handwoven on one of my table looms or my Saori floor loom. I work in cotton, wool, wool roving, silk ribbon, and a variety of other fibers to create embroidered and decorative accents.
Chickpea, is my passion project that grew from a promise that I made to myself to create something (anything) everyday. After years of developing myself as an artist, I have now found the the medium and the creative practice that suits me perfectly. In fact, I have really come full circle because I sewed and embroidered and did needlepoint from a very young age. I was a self-taught geeky girl who brought sewing projects with me to school and could be found needlepointing at recess and lunch and even trying to con a teacher into letting me embroider while the other kids were doing their silent reading.
Every piece I create is unique and develops organically. I love nothing more than a freshly warped loom because I have no idea what it's going to become until it's done. I have long been attracted to abstract expressionism and the idea that my work is a journal - -a record of a moment in time, filtered and influenced by my mood, the availability of materials, and my aesthetic of the day (truly, it can change from day to day!). At the same time, I am constantly editing and balancing my Wabi-sabi design philosophy with a minimalist's eye on my handwoven "canvases". Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that is "a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beautify of things unconventional." (Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designer, Poets & Philosophers, by Leonard Koren, Imperfect Publishing, 2008). It is also important to me that the artwork that has been traditionally been ascribed to "women's work" (weaving, knitting, darning, sewing, cooking) are being valued and elevated as work that has more than just utilitarian value.
There is also a zero waste ethos to my work and I am always saving, upcycling, and reusing my scraps by integrating them into new pieces whenever possible. I incorporate my woven remnants into watercolor paintings by hand sewing them onto paper. That said, I love nothing more than discovering new yarns and collecting them during my travels.
I am excited that you found me and would love to hear from you.
-C
I design and create woven art. All of my pieces are handwoven on one of my table looms or my Saori floor loom. I work in cotton, wool, wool roving, silk ribbon, and a variety of other fibers to create embroidered and decorative accents.
Chickpea, is my passion project that grew from a promise that I made to myself to create something (anything) everyday. After years of developing myself as an artist, I have now found the the medium and the creative practice that suits me perfectly. In fact, I have really come full circle because I sewed and embroidered and did needlepoint from a very young age. I was a self-taught geeky girl who brought sewing projects with me to school and could be found needlepointing at recess and lunch and even trying to con a teacher into letting me embroider while the other kids were doing their silent reading.
Every piece I create is unique and develops organically. I love nothing more than a freshly warped loom because I have no idea what it's going to become until it's done. I have long been attracted to abstract expressionism and the idea that my work is a journal - -a record of a moment in time, filtered and influenced by my mood, the availability of materials, and my aesthetic of the day (truly, it can change from day to day!). At the same time, I am constantly editing and balancing my Wabi-sabi design philosophy with a minimalist's eye on my handwoven "canvases". Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that is "a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beautify of things unconventional." (Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designer, Poets & Philosophers, by Leonard Koren, Imperfect Publishing, 2008). It is also important to me that the artwork that has been traditionally been ascribed to "women's work" (weaving, knitting, darning, sewing, cooking) are being valued and elevated as work that has more than just utilitarian value.
There is also a zero waste ethos to my work and I am always saving, upcycling, and reusing my scraps by integrating them into new pieces whenever possible. I incorporate my woven remnants into watercolor paintings by hand sewing them onto paper. That said, I love nothing more than discovering new yarns and collecting them during my travels.
I am excited that you found me and would love to hear from you.
-C
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