Still Life / Still Living
The work Still Life presents a reflection on our reality in Israel recently through the medium of crocheting — the craft we have practiced for the past 11 years. For this piece, we created a wall tapestry using a technique we developed specifically for knitting graphic imagery.
Traditionally, tapestries featured scenes with both overt and hidden messages regarding the character of their era. In our tapestry, we seek to create an observational experience of a moment in our current state, through the medium of crochet. We captured a specific moment from a press photograph processing it through a "knitted filter."
A "Still Life" is a composition of objects whose documentation has evolved throughout history—from realistic and symbolic to interpretive. Our rug documents a contemporary kind of still life. Today's reality changes incessantly yet essentially remains still. Despite the meticulous labor of knitting, the image does not fully clarify. STILL LIFE also means that we are still alive. As a social enterprise, iota is a platform through which we fight for our principles and values, striving to sustain them through design. Handwork is also a sign of life, of a tradition passed from mother to daughter, informal communication between people and their creation.
The format we chose is the wall tapestry. Tapestries were used for decoration, insulation, and as symbols of social status, dating back to the early centuries BCE. They were common across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, hand-woven or embroidered by skilled artisans in specialized workshops, often under the patronage of royalty or nobility. During the Renaissance, tapestries displayed in palaces often depicted historical or mythological scenes, crafted from silk, wool, and sometimes gold and silver threads.
While rugs are a staple in our collections, this time we chose to elevate the rug to the wall to tell a story. The abstraction of the photograph into a pixelated graphic allows the viewer to wonder about the nature of the event displayed in it, its location, and its context (Are these soldiers? Burning buildings? A forest? Hunters?).
The technique is laborious, consisting of approximately 30,000 stitches on a large-scale canvas. This work is part of the discovery of a new crochet technique where there is no "right" or "wrong" side (no front or back).
The ability to create graphics originates from the Jacquard technique. Jacquard is a concept from the world of weaving, referring to a textile surface created using a mechanical mechanism added to the loom. It controls the intersection of warp and weft threads, allowing for the production of complex imagery and free-form shapes. The translation of this technique from the world of weaving into crochet is part of a new collection we are currently developing.
The work is on display as part of the Biennial of Art and Design at the Eretz Israel Museum (MUZA) until November 30, 2026.
