When the Eugene Symphony opens its season Thursday, music won’t be the only thing lighting up the stage. Music Director Alex Prior will be wearing a custom silk jacket made by members of the Eugene Weavers Guild.
The jacket was created for a performance of “Color Field” by composer Anna Clyne, who drew inspiration from abstract painter Mark Rothko’s large blocks of color. Clyne experiences synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense can trigger experiences in another. In this case, it led Clyne to turn Rothko’s paintings into music.
For the weavers, the challenge was to bring that palette back into the visual world through fabric.
Joey Barns, the project manager, got the idea after learning that Prior wears custom-made jackets for his performances. She figured the guild could contribute something special.
“I kept thinking, you know there’s a group of people here that make fabric, why aren’t we doing something together?” Barns said.
She pitched the idea to the symphony, which jumped at the opportunity. Seventeen members of the weavers guild signed up to take on this project, which had a tight six-month deadline.
“We had to think about what it needed to look like, how we were going to acquire the yarn, how we were going to make sure it was the right color of yarn, get it woven, cut it apart, sew it back together, and fit it to him,” Barns said. “It’s a huge undertaking; it’s just massive.”
Krista Richey took the lead on designing and weaving the fabric. She selected nine shades inspired by Rothko’s palette: three reds, three oranges, and three yellows. The colors were then used to dye 20 skeins of silk, which Richey then arranged on a loom.
“When she finally got to the actual amount of silk, because it’s all silk that we used, it’s like 1400 ends of string that you are having to individually put onto a loom,” Barns said. “Then she actually did the weaving of the piece itself, 10 yards of fabric is what she wove.”
The finished fabric was cut into six pieces that had to be sewn together. Barns admitted that the group felt nervous at each new stage of production.
“When the time came to cut the fabric, you know, there’s an old saying: ‘measure twice and cut once’ right? Well this was like measure five times, cut once,” she laughed.
The team also had to account for the conductor’s movements onstage, making sure it was tailored just right for Prior’s energetic conducting style.
“You can’t go to the store and buy a pattern for something like this, so the first thing that had to happen was measurements had to be made of Alex,” Barns said. “Then you have to take into consideration the movement that a person does when they are conducting an orchestra. And Alex is not small on his movement; he’s big! And he’s a tall guy!”
The project required a range of skills, from dyeing and weaving, to sewing and fitting. But it also required teamwork, which Barns said was one of the most rewarding parts.
“It’s been a hugely beautiful project involving so many people, who’ve really brought their creative talents to the forefront,” she said. “People in our guild who really didn’t know each other have come together working on this, and that’s been a beautiful thing to see.”
The finished jacket almost seems to complete a creative circle: Rothko’s paintings inspired Clyne’s music, which in turn inspired the weavers’ design.
Displays at the Hult Center will show how the jacket was made, alongside work by other local fiber artists.
The Eugene Symphony performs Clyne’s “Color Field” on Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Hult Center in Eugene.
