Mariana obmetkin matalon - Textile & clothes design

I was born in the Ukraine and at the age of 7 my family immigrated to Israel. I now live in Tel Aviv, in the tension between the countryside which I left and the urbane and industrial city where I now live, as does my work.

Ever since I can remember myself I was drawn to textile and fashion. As a child, I would paint and sew cloths for my dolls. As I grew the paintings turned into sketches, the sewing stayed with me and the dolls where replaced by people. It was my desire to create my own fabrics for my own designs that led me to the studying of Textile.

What fascinates me about weaving is the unraveling of the wrap and the opportunity to play with it as I like, which allows me to create endless fabrics. The texture and feel of the fabric is extremely important to me therefore I am very particular regarding the material I work with. Sometimes I choose unconventional material such as metal wires, rough fishing lies, ropes and plastic ropes that were not designed for textile. I love to examine and find out how these materials “act” when they become a part of a fabric or textile product that were not their natural intent.

My inspiration comes from my childhood in the Ukraine, my memories of its urban surroundings and the texture of the “bad” side of town; the outlying areas and the fringe of society, the broken falling apart houses, the dirt and the demolished aesthetics. With that, I was also influenced by political, social and mostly sub cultural phenomenon’s, the post-soviet era and feminism.

During my 4 years as a Shankar student I learned how to weave, sew, knit, screen print and use Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign software. I learned how to express the things that interest me most in a perceptible and materialized manner.