Jovencio De La Paz at Chris Sharp

At Chris Sharp Gallery, Jovencio De La Paz’s woven wall pieces push the fragility of thread against the rigid constraints of computer programming. The dimension-defying woven works, made using a digitally assisted Jacquard loom, contain mind-bogglingly complex surfaces with deep ridges and valleys. Some pieces on view were created using a version of a 1950s software called BioNumeric Organism that De La Paz adapted with a computer engineer. 

The pieces not only push the boundaries of fibers to their literal breaking point (rogue threads get over-stretched and sag out of the regimented formations), but also reconceptualize what is possible with a woven substrate. The works are then sewn within stark, off-white canvases, creating a container of vast negative space around their active surfaces, as if their kinetic energy needs to be buffered by a less-active surface textile. The works speak to tension and release, containers and fluidity, and explore pushing against (and working within) constraining boundaries.

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Photo: Jovencio de la Paz, Bent Pyramid (1.1) (2022). Handwoven, Jacquard textile and cotton, 62 x 62 x 1.5 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Chris Sharp. Photo: Ruben Diaz.