It Takes Two

Staff -- Interior Design, 10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM

Heartstring Embroidary, Heartstring

Stepping Stone by Pollack.

Glyph Sheer, Matelasse, and Velvet by Pollack.

Artwork from the non-profit Alpha Workshops forms the basis of the Alpha Pollack textile collection. This second collaboration between Pollack and Alpha delivers pieces that run the gamut, from delicate and elegant to bold and robust. The vivid Stepping Stone is based on a pastel sketch in which a field of river rock–like shapes is depicted in washes of color and lines. Even more texture is created by the embroidery that covers much of the silk dupioni ground. Heartstring features vertical rows of vines sprawling in iridescent silk. The hand-painted feel of the original art is translated onto the fabric by a double-weft construction, which weaves one filling as the surface of the leaves, while a second creates a different pattern for the background. Heartstring Embroidery uses a viscose braid, stitched on a silk dupioni ground, to trace the outline of the leaves. Three more fabrics found their inspiration in an abstract work executed in two-color Puff Paint. Glyph Sheer, a 118-inch Trevira sheer, combines filling yarns of two different weights and colors with a single-color warp for a tone-on-tone effect. Glyph Matelasse captures the paint's raised quality with heavy cotton stuffer over a ground of mercerized cotton. Glyph Velvet, testing to 50,000 Wyzenbeek rubs, uses a negative ground and two colors of viscose pile to create a tonal pattern. The collection offers a total of 208 colorways. 212-627-7766; pollackassociates.com. circle 453

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