Press Release
With their vibrant color and bold designs, Julienne Ballantyne’s custom hand-tufted rugs redefine the spaces they occupy. Works of art that belong equally at home on the floor or the wall, these textiles offer the possibility to transform the domestic environment. Ballantyne eschews traditional rectangular boundaries and, having left the box behind, has rethought the nature of rug design.
Her rugs, with their sculpted, contoured edges, explore their spaces. Because the designer prefers to work in situ, that is, investigating the intended location for the rug and working in dialogue with the client, her rugs are integrated designs. The textile responds to the surrounding architecture and, through the strength of the design, offers a reinterpretation of the designated space that transcends its origins. Her rugs, rather than float as isolated islands in the middle of a room, reach out to and are rooted in their situations at the same time they redefine them. Thus her designs respond to one of the most defining characteristics of the current moment, that is, our new-found appreciation for home. We have come to recognize our living spaces as more than a roof over our heads; they are our refuges and retreats from the busy world. And what better way to restore the soul battered by the chaos and detritus of the modern world than to live in a work of art.
The notion that the artfully designed home was the best means by which humanity could survive the trials and tribulations of modernity was central to the turn-of-the last century Arts and Crafts movement and, in particular, the work of Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who has been a constant source of inspiration for Julienne Ballantyne, who has sustained her Scottish roots throughout her years in Texas. Ballantyne received her training at the Glasgow School of Art, in the building universally celebrated as Mackintosh’s masterpiece. Working within this space taught Ballantyne an appreciation for both the larger design and the crucial detail – which can be seen in her rug designs which are characterized by ingenious shapes, decisive patterns, and intriguing signature motifs – such as dazzling triangles pushing the boundaries of circumscribing circles, hot pools of color set off against cooler backgrounds, and spirals of contrasting colors.
Like her predecessor’s designs, Ballantyne’s rugs are both functional and artistic. She has solved design problems for a wide range of clients, from the corporate to the individual. In addition, she has exhibited her work – shifting the rug from the floor to the wall, where some critics have argued her work belongs. In 2004, for example, her work was selected by guest curator Lawrence Rinder for inclusion in Craft Houston 2004: TEXAS. Rinder, in his introduction to the catalogue, underscored the multivalency of the work of Ballantyne and her colleagues: “the boundary between the so-called ‘fine arts’ -- … and of ‘craft’ are blurry indeed.” Ballantyne very consciously travels the border between craft and fine art in her deliberate study of the work of important architects, such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, or significant painters, such as Bridget Riley, who inspired the work featured in Craft Houston 2004: TEXAS.
The latter, Bridget with a Twist, is indicative of Ballantyne’s artful manner. The rug takes a dramatic turn in the middle so that it most closely resembles a dolphin arcing gracefully through the water – a creative response to the client’s desire for a design that could bridge two spaces. The internal pattern lines reinforce the sense of arcing strength as do the bold punctuation points of color along the outer edge. The rug’s pleasure extends beyond its visual stimulation; Ballantyne has varied tuft heights so that the rug possesses its own internal topography that can be best experienced in bare feet.
As a fine artist, Ballantyne brings both a superior sense of design and a close attention to craftsmanship to her work. Her rugs are handmade, produced by the tufting process. The rug is designed on a canvas support on which Ballantyne outlines her design. Although the final rug eventually covers over Ballantyne’s initial sketch; she preserves her design concepts in small, finely worked gouache drawings that she has exhibited as fine art objects. The tufting process allows Ballantyne to vary her pile height, thus enhancing the sensuousness of her designs. The tactile, sensual quality of the designer’s rugs also derives from her use of natural fibers, some of which she exclusively imports from Scotland.
Julienne Ballantyne’s work is sought after by architects and interior designs. Her rugs become the centerpiece of a room, of a total design, a total work of art. She thus offers us, her audience, the opportunity to redefine our domestic environment and to live and work with art and thus transform our sense of self.
Dr. Anne Helmreich
Associate Professor, Art History
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio, USA