Marianna D’Aquino

The vertical loom, unlike the mechanical horizontal loom, allows the use of various weaving techniques and textile materials; I like to experiment and this allows me to make my creations unique and unrepeatable

Q&A

Artist Statement

Marianna D’Aquino was born in Casarano (LE) in 1971, after artistic studies (Artistic High School and Academy of Fine Arts) she graduated in 2008 in Cultural Heritage with a thesis in History of Medieval Art.
Over the years he has carried out multiple interior decoration works, participated in painting competitions and artistic events.

In 2013 he participated in the “INTRECCIDARTE” project, in Matera, promoted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, on the creation of carpets knotted on a vertical loom, weaving two carpets based on works by Tobia Ravà.
The type of weaving is the Ghiordes or Turkish knot, one of the two most used knots in the manufacturing of knotted carpets.
In the Ghiordes knot, the colored weft thread passes over the two warp threads, is pulled and then cut to form the pile. The ghiordes knot has a symmetrical structure and is used in the oldest surviving carpets.

In 2014, for the ideas competition “WE PUT YOU ON THE CARPET”, for the design of a line of carpets for living spaces, organized by the Quartarella Construction Center in collaboration with Arlexitalia, he created a carpet designed by Cesare Maremonti, an artist and architect from Matera .

In 2015 he coordinated the “TESSERE MIRÓ” weaving workshop in a primary school in Matera, involving 50 children, who each wove a single piece of the knotted carpet, reproducing the work by J. Mirò entitled “BLUE 2”.
Between 2015 and 2016 he created his most important work, based on Josè Ortega’s work “La sete”, an artefact now exhibited in the “Casa di Ortega” museum in Matera.

Since 2021 he has collaborated with Fendi Roma as part of the “HAND IN HAND” project, which promotes the craftsmanship of the Italian regions at a national and international level. The large Italian company Fendi chose it to represent Basilicata to create the iconic “baguette”; There were 2 events in which he participated: in October 2022 on the occasion of the international event “The Journées Particulières” in Rome in the Fendi palace in Largo C. Goldoni and in April 2023 in Tokyo, on the “Omotesando” website for the presentation of the project . On both occasions he brought his upright loom for a demonstration of the “baguette” making process.
Participation, in August 2023, in the “La luna e i calanchi” event in Aliano, with a representative work of the city of Matera.
He lives and works in Matera, working on new projects and collaborations, promoting vertical loom weaving workshops for adults and children.