study for floor 1600 x 5000 | martin poppelwell

Words by martin poppelwell

"the drawing for this rug was developed from 3 dimensional tiles made from earthenware, white slip and then drawn upon with black stain and chrome oxide. i have discovered that this process introduces a tactile and organic element to what is essentially a raised, textured and flat object.

thus the edges are almost straight, there are splotches of green indicating areas to draw around and the red areas are where the slip missed the clay. the off white is the colour of the finished piece

by working like this i can kind of leave the outcome to chance and therefore the ‘enlargement’ is a by product of making and drawing.

the ‘disfunctional’ open grid built to behave like both a plan and an elevation, and could be an ongoing pile / stack of nameless things that we are surrounded by.

it is also a way of me thinking about passing the time,…but not too rapidly.

The dilana brand story starts in 1980 when an artisan rug-making workshop in New Zealand was founded by Hugh Bannerman. Early on the brand philosophy & direction was set: “We will facilitate an ongoing study of textile imagery for the floor, its aesthetic function within a given environment and the artistic properties of the textile within its own parameters. The medium is the hand-tufted woolen carpet.” –Hugh Bannerman 1986

This same ideal underpins dilana’s design ethic today. The workshop has been the catalyst for fine artists, designers and architects to collaborate in the design and production of textile floor coverings. This collective has now accumulated over 30 years of specialised knowledge and experience extending from handmade into unique design of manufactured carpet covering vast floors of airports, hotels, public and commercial buildings.