Biography

Lauriane Obry graduated from ENSCI–Les Ateliers in Contemporary Creation and Technology and was awarded the Agora Design Research Grant in 2023. Trained at the Gobelins Manufacture, she creates woven works and installations incorporating large-scale tapestry. Seeking to foster a renewed perspective on this heritage craft, she explores new forms, uses and tools for tapestry while encouraging novel interactions with audiences. Working between research and creation, she aims to reaffirm tapestry as a field of artistic experimentation and an immersive medium, highlighting both the creative process and the technical mastery involved in weaving. Her practice explores the relationship between ancestral craftsmanship and contemporary technologies, as well as the diversity of material and natural resources available today.

Research Project at Fondation Martell

The project *Tapi(x)erie* explores the place and evolution of tapestry in the twenty-first century. As a tapestry weaver herself, the artist challenges the traditional model of production, in which a craftsperson executes a design conceived by an artist, and instead proposes an experimental process where craftsmanship plays an active role from the earliest stages of conception.

Focusing on the technical and ecological qualities of hemp fibre—a local, sustainable and high-performing material—she reconsiders tapestry through the lens of its physical properties, particularly its thermal and acoustic capacities. The project imagines a “summer tapestry”, woven entirely from hemp, including warp, weft and dye, capable of helping to preserve coolness within an interior space. In doing so, it reverses the traditional role of tapestry, which was historically used in winter to insulate walls and retain heat.

Through this approach, tapestry is reconsidered as a functional support that brings together craftsmanship, technical innovation and sustainability. By highlighting the resources of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, *Tapi(x)erie* seeks to strengthen connections between design and craft through a practice that is rooted, ecological and local.

Interim Results from the Residency

This research residency made it possible to explore several avenues relating to hemp fibre and natural dyeing. An initial phase focused on identifying French producers and processors capable of supplying high-quality hemp yarn suitable for weaving. Companies including Safilin, French Filature (Hauts-de-France) and Virgocoop (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) were approached as part of this investigation.

Using these yarns, a series of woven samples were produced to assess the strength, flexibility and aesthetic qualities of hemp. Often perceived as a coarse material, hemp can now be processed through the precise and regular movements of modern machinery. The resulting textiles reveal a luminous texture and sculptural presence, opening new possibilities for contemporary tapestry and the promotion of the French textile industry.

The second stage of the research focused on plant-based dyeing, with the aim of reconnecting with natural colouring methods largely abandoned since the nineteenth century in favour of synthetic pigments. A series of dye experiments using hemp leaves produced a palette ranging from yellow to green, the long-term durability of which remains to be assessed.

A final phase explored mordants and natural additives. Drawing on local resources and by-products—including vineyard gravelle, sunflower seeds, oyster shells, chestnut husks, marsh salt and vine leaves—alternative formulas to conventional chemical treatments were tested for use before and during the dyeing process. These experiments resulted in a collection of subtly coloured hemp yarns.

By placing both material and colour-producing resources at the centre of the creative process, the practice of tapestry weaving moves away from a logic of reproducing a pre-existing design. Freed from figurative imagery, tapestry emerges as a new medium situated between cartography and the record of a “geography of colour”, where the structure of the weave itself becomes a form of chromatic writing rooted in a territory and in its resources.

A woven prototype was produced on the Foundation’s low-warp loom, giving tangible form to the various stages of research and experimentation. A meeting with Arnaud Dubois (EnsAD Limoges/CNRS) also fostered a dialogue around colour, materiality and living systems. Held first in the *Chromoculture* garden at EnsAD Limoges and later at the Foundation, this exchange enriched the project by creating links between academic research and artisanal practice, while highlighting the relationships between design, resources and transmission of knowledge.

Place within the Labo Almanach

Throughout the project, the Labo Almanach served as a space for research, exchange and experimentation centred on local resources. It became a valuable point of reference, enabling the artist to discover and reuse materials and by-products previously identified by former residents, including marsh salt, oyster shells and rope.

Beyond the resources themselves, the Labo fostered encounters and exchanges with other residents, creating opportunities to share experiences, pool knowledge and connect with common partners from the local network.

Woven and dyed samples, along with new resources such as vineyard gravelle (acidic residues formed in wine tanks), iron-rich sunflower seeds, hemp yarn supplied by Virgocoop, Safilin and French Filature, have been added to the Labo archive as traces of the research process and as resources for future residents.

The low-warp loom was actively used during the residency, confirming both its operational condition and its value within the range of equipment made available by the Foundation.

Resources Involved

* Hemp yarn (Association Lin et Chanvre Bio, Virgocoop, Safilin, French Filature)
* Dried hemp leaves (Gatichanvre)
* Vineyard gravelle (Oeno Labo)
* Marsh salt (Labo Almanach)
* Oyster shells (Labo Almanach)
* Sunflower seeds (harvested from a field near Cognac)
* Fresh vine leaves (collected from the residents’ house patio)
* Chestnut husks (collected from the Foundation’s car park)
* Rope (Corderie Palus / Labo Almanach)