Ally Kraus

Joining us From: San Jose, CA

On Loom: 1

Tell us about yourself and what led to the Residency?

I'm a textile artist and educator. I have a teaching studio in San Jose called the Micro Fiber School. It's a small, "micro-sized" fiber school where I host weaving, sewing, and dyeing classes.

I used to work as an instructional designer & technical writer, but left my job in 2022. Over the next few years, I took classes at weaving and traditional craft schools across the country, including the Intro TC2 class at Praxis. It completely changed the way I think about weaving and I've been wanting to come back and use the loom ever since.

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

I took a weeklong Intro to TC2 class at Praxis in 2024.

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

My main goal is to get more time on the TC2 and explore how it might integrate with my art. My work focuses on material exploration. I dye all my own yarns, and love ikat, pictorial painted/printed warp, and unweaving & reweaving painted designs. Anything that's a combination of meticulous planning and serendipity.

I'm excited about the possibility of weaving improvisationally on the TC2. I also plan to play and experiment in order to gain intuition about interlacements and the structure of cloth.

Connect with Ally:

IG: @allykraustextiles

website: https://www.allykraus.com