Kari Lonning

I work in two different materials. The natural colored baskets are woven of locally collected Akebia vines and in the bright baskets I’ve used dyed rattan reed using commercial water-fast dyes. The techniques used are multi-element twining to achieve vertical and spiral patterns and a form of tapestry weaving to get patches of color. The textural surfaces are achieved by the artists own hairy technique where 100s of short pieces of reed are woven into the walls of the baskets. Encaustic medium is applied to all of the baskets to strengthen and protect them.