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| Virginia Kaiser |
| The ancient art of basket weaving comes alive. |
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Basket making is one of the world's oldest crafts. With close to a thousand baskets to her name, Virginia Kaiser, from Kangaroo Valley in southern NSW, is one of Australia's best known basket makers.
She has been a full time contemporary basket weaver since 1982 and apart from attending a two-day basket weaving workshop, is self-taught. Her baskets have been sold to people from countries as diverse as Japan, America and Iran.
Virginia collects her materials from her immediate environment — be it the bush, seaside scrub, pine forest or her own "backyard". They include pine needles, dry stalks from Jacarandas, dragon tree, date palm fruit stalks, ivy cuttings, Bangalow palm (bark), wire vine (muehlenbeckia), willow, grape vines, jasmine cuttings and lavender stalks.
What makes her baskets attractive is not only the shape, texture and colour but their smell. The baskets each have their own characteristic sweet, spicy or musky scent. Colours range from creamy pale tones, velvety browns, burnt oranges, to rich reds and weathered greens.
Preparing materials
Plant materials are picked while still green. Apart from pine needles, which contain oil that keeps them soft, they all need to be first dried on sheets of newspaper.
The cuttings are softened in hot water to make them pliable for weaving. They are then wrapped in damp towels to remove the excess water and still remain damp and pliable, ready for weaving. The only tools needed are an awl and a pair of scissors. Virginia uses traditional basket weaving techniques including:
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Open spiral stitching. This is a coiling stitch, involving one continual string stitched around the basket.
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Plain weaving. This uses an over and under stitch.
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Twining. This method interlocks two elements of the weave.
Depending on the size, (ranging from 10cm to a metre high) baskets can take from a week to a month to create.
Her more recent works combine basketry with woodwork. (The woodwork component is made by another artist). Virginia also undertakes commission work.
Like many artists, Virginia often feels reluctant to sell her work. She says that this form of natural basket weaving makes people more aware of their surroundings. Items that would normally have been composted can become works of art.
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Cost
Baskets range in price from $50-$1,200 each.
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More Info
For further information, contact:
Virginia Kaiser,
Lot 323, Leebold Hill Rd, Beaumont NSW 2577.
Ph: (02) 4421 5018.
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Disclaimer
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