Textile artist Nadia-Anne Ricketts has transformed her childhood fascination with music into a complex weaving system, that captures the fingerprint of any given sound spectrum in intricately woven textiles: works of art and technological innovation that can be admired, adorned and even worn.

BeatWoven, the resulting material, is an ongoing interpretation of sensory experiences that commenced in 2008, when Ricketts was studying at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design in London. Working with technological concepts of weaving, and coders, she created a tool to author the physicality of sound frequency and transform it into a tangible medium of visual pattern and structure.

Today, that tool, coupled with her passion for travel and experience as a sound healer has led to a fascinating creative universe where mathematics and geometry co-exist hand-in-hand with the tenets of ancient weaving skills and tech. With a 2000 threads per inch count, each BeatWoven piece follows a grid-like system, with every element and visual gesture representing the emotional value of any given sound.

ABOUT THE WORK

Portal 22.2.22, 2022
Woven silk, mohair, copper and cashmere finish
100 x 200cm

A palindrome coordinate in time and space, an opening of a higher ream derived from Nadia-Anne Ricketts’s self-curated ceremony of healing at exactly 22 minutes past 10pm (22:22), on the 22nd day of the 2nd month of February 2022. 

WaterMusic Abaya, in collaboration with AMARAH, 2022/2023
Silk and gold yarn, cashmere finish

“Water Music was one of my first generational pieces exploring the preservation of sound within cloth,” says Nadia-Anne. The design was based on an English royal musical theme from the 18th century. “I was asked to capture the essence of the history and era behind an incredible stately home south of London called Syon Park.”

Website: beatwoven.co.uk
Instagram: @beatwoven