Margarita Benitez

Joining us From: Miami, Florida + Kent, Ohio

On Loom: 1

Tell us about yourself and what led to the Residency?

My collaborative art + design + technology practice is under the name //benitez_vogl. I am also a Professor and am currently on sabbatical from my teaching at Kent State University.and was looking for residencies that give me the time and resources to delve into experimentation. Praxis has a wonderful reputation and the two weeks is a good amount of time to focus. They provide this precious time with the TC2 loom which is very rare.

Have you had any previous experience with Digital Weaving or Jacquard?

Yes, I started weaving many moons ago in North Carolina with Industry thanks to The Jacquard Center but hadn't touched a TC1 since my Art + Tech grad school and teaching days back at The School of the Art Institue of Chicago. I was able to go come to Praxis for a Digital Weaving Workshop 1 over the summer to help refresh skills and to finally weave on a TC2. It had been almost 25 years since I last wove on a Jacquard loom. I also went to the amazing LMRM this fall for a CMYK warp workshop which was a treat!

Any goals for the residency that you would like to share?

For my time at Praxis, I am exploring light and materiality through AI and digital fabrication. I have been researching the work of László Moholy-Nagy who was an "endless experimentor." Some of his concepts and work really resonate with my train of thought at the moment. I look forward to diving right into research and experimentation.

Connect with Margarita:

Instagram: @modeplusplus - email: benitezvogl@gmail.com - benitezvogl.com