Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Tornero.
Hi Stephen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am an artist and teacher from Canton, Ohio, and I’ve been making art for about 12 years now. I went back to grad school and discovered weaving as one of my electives. I think I always wanted to create textiles, and I have a distant memory of a costumed volunteer at Hale Farm and Village weaving on a large barn loom. I had no idea as a 5th grader what was happening, but I wanted to know how all those strings could combine to make a cloth. At Kent State, I had to take art electives for my degree, and I chose weaving because it was one of the art practices I didn’t know how to do. When I signed up, I didn’t know that I had accidentally taken the hardest class in the weaving program. In this class I learned everything about how to set up a loom, calculate what supplies I would need, and how to dye patterns into yarn that would show up in the cloth. In 2019, when I was teaching students remotely, I opened a small studio in downtown Canton. I was unable to access the equipment at Kent State, and I needed to create. I have had this studio space for about 5 years now, and I have expanded the space into a second room where I dye yarn to weave and create textiles. My work has been in shows around Ohio, and my textiles have been commissioned as interior finishes. My recent focus is curating art shows that are focused on textiles and fiber art to have that work present in galleries and museums.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
During the quarantine, I had a lot of time to work on projects and weavings, and I had so many ideas saved up in my sketchbook that I wanted to try. During this time of uncertainty and stress, I was able to use my art as an outlet, and it provided a routine and structure that I needed. Weaving in my own space, however, was a big change from working at a university where I was surrounded by friends and classmates to share ideas with. I had to try and establish more connections with other artists. Thankfully, I was able to expand my network of weavers and other artists via social media and connect with more people.
It is also a challenge to reconcile my identity as both an artist and an art teacher. Many art teachers have a studio art practice where they create wonderful things, but sometimes, this work is viewed by curators and even other artists as a “hobby” rather than a professional practice. I see myself as having two full-time jobs. I have my teaching career where I do my best to inspire young people to find the creativity in themselves, and my art career where I have to inspire myself to create. I believe that both are necessary for me to maintain my sense of self.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work is really about the intersection of color, texture, and pattern. I like to manipulate these three variables to make different kinds of weavings. In each new set of pieces, I like to experiment with changing the materials I weave with and the structures I create with the loom. When I started working in textiles, I wanted to create work with colorful, undulating stripes that were dyed into the surface. I saw these pieces as music or vibrations, referencing animated films I watched as a child. Each piece has a “squiggle” that is dyed into the yarn and then woven into a cloth. In another series, I am working with a “waffle” weave structure to make shapes like triangles and diamonds on the surface. This structure is traditionally used to make towels and blankets, but the structure is perfect to make these large, geometric shapes. My most challenging piece so far was the ceiling I created for the Patron Saint restaurant in Cleveland’s Hingetown neighborhood. I collaborated with an interior design firm to make 5, 3’x15’ panels that are installed in the ceiling of the restaurant and offer sound baffling as well as the Mediterranean aesthetic the owner was looking for.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters to me most right now is maintaining this balance of my teaching career and creating art. Before, my art practice was a small part of my life, and I felt unfulfilled as a teacher. As I started to add more art into my life, my teaching career became more meaningful. I want to inspire a younger generation of people to make space for art in their lives, whether they create it or just appreciate it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stephenweaves.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephenweaves207/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephenweaves/
Image Credits
Mal McCrea
