Grids, lace, networks and similar structures represent a metaphor in fabric and thread for my concern on the state of the world today. They represent to me those structures comprising the points of reference we’ve all come to count on for reliability – those stable international alliances, social mixes and balances, and financial structures that have affected our lives for decades or even centuries. Many have been or are under threat of being distorted or even ripped apart by the geopolitics of our time. If you stress or pull a lace fabric, it will easily tear.
Down the years I’ve occasionally pondered on the nature of lace – whether it’s the pattern of holes that are important, or the matrix in which the holes appear. My personal conclusion eventually was that the defining characteristic of lace is the pattern of holes, and the material between the holes is not important.
To me, each of these leaves could be said to be a form of ‘lace’. One fell and was altered by insects (I’m not sure about any cause/effect here) and the other’s holes were genetically programmed into the leaf. There are plenty more examples in Nature – plant leaves with holes for which insects and birds in particular are responsibl (I’m posting more pics on my Instagram account shortly @schwabealison) and some corals and sea sponges come to mind.
Yes, I realise some readers could fairly reasonably be thinking I’m pushing this ‘lace’ connection a bit far, but if you reach for your dictionaries you’ll find variety of definitions for lace, varying between those points of view, and most frequently the definition is given in terms of fabric and thread, followed by some the most popular types such as Honiton, Guipure, bobbin and needlelace. The lace boundary is a bit blurry because some counted thread needleworks including Hardanger, drawn and pulled thread works are lacy in effect, yet not commonly referred to as ‘lace’.