#432

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Unlike the other two weavings under consideration here, #432 is a mill weaving, so Lessman-Moss created its design, sent the digital file to the mill, and received a completed work. The artist finds this to be an amazing experience, one that she always made sure to share with her students because seeing a digital design physically realized is impressive and satisfying, but also because the deadline to provide designs helped to get the students in line! Every spring, she would pause all other work and create mill designs to be part of the process, and #432 is one of those. In a mill weaving, there are 170 threads per inch in the warp, far more than the 40 per inch at the high end of hand threading. With mill weaving the quantity of colors can also be limited, so this black and white work fits the process well. In #432, Lessman-Moss added a felt backing that also made for a natural contrast to the high-density mill weaving. For works including felt, the artist dyed the wool, and a younger former student would help do the felting, which is a very physical and repetitive process, and also a less orderly or precise one, and thus less appealing to Lessman-Moss. #432 is reminiscent of Bridget Riley's black and white Op art works, but Lessman-Moss names Valerie Jaudon and James Sienna as even stronger touchpoints for their work with circles and patterns, dealing with field and edge.