Petra Guenthner Johnson is a weaver who grew up among the rolling prairie of western North Dakota. The flowing beauty and loneliness of her childhood landscape still inspire much of her work. Petra studied art at the University of Wisconsin-Superior from 1998-2001. She finished her Bachelor of Science in visual arts at North Dakota State University in 2003. Petra currently lives in west central Wisconsin with her husband, three beautiful children, a dog and two cats.
Petra creates her works using a “zero waste philosophy.” All of the weft fabric used in these works are re-purposed from worn out clothing and home textiles or purchased second hand. Petra uses Maysville cotton rug warps. Waste strings from the tearing process, trimmed rag ends and seams, and excess warps are all recycled into paper or find their way back into woven works.
I wove my first rag rug in 2001 and have been creating art using ripped-up, cut-up, worn, out-dated fabrics ever since.
Rag weaving is a thoughtful disassembling and recreating process. It is an act that allows me to meditate on my own individual mess, and transform it into a fabric that reveals deeper understanding, connection and beauty.
I find an endless, absorbing metaphor for relationships in woven fabric. In healthy relationships, the fabric is beautiful. Cohesive. Each strand of warp and weft interconnected, supporting and balancing the other. When we focus on our differences instead of our shared humanity, when we use Earth’s resources without consideration; the fabric is weakened, worn thin, unravelling and sometimes ripping apart entirely.
I feel the need to repair, to heal, to make new, both for myself and society. So I weave these meditations. This newly formed fabric is an offering to you. Bring your own experiences, identity, values, and perspective. Art can provide a safe space for shared contemplation and connection. And we can begin reweaving to form a new, perhaps stronger whole.
-Petra Guenthner Johnson
If you are interested in purchasing or commissioning a work please visit my contact page.
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