Golden Spider Silk

The V&A Museum in London is currently holding an exhibition showcasing beautiful pieces made from Golden Spider Silk, along with the original design pages and also an educational and insightful film which shows the process of how the silk is collected and used.

What attracted me to the exhibition was the fact that there was "brocaded shawl made from the silk of more than one million female golden orb-weaver spiders". This exhibition related to my trend and was also a great way of seeing the different ways in which people draw inspiration for Brocade designs.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/golden-spider-silk/
[The link to the exhibition]

Bobbins of Spider Silk and Silk Thread with 200g Weight

"Spider silk is one of the strongest materials in the natural world. Because of its tensile strength and remarkable elasticity, scientists today are looking into how it might be employed in engineering and medicine."

Spider silk, wood and metal weight
On loan from Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley

Spider Silk Cape, By Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley, Madagascar, 2011

"The embroidered and appliqué decoration on this spider silk cape takes its inspiration from poetry, myth and the world of the nightmares. The spider and plant life imagery was created using a wide range of stitches and techniques. The cape is the result of thousands of hours spent reeling the silk of over one million spiders and twisting it into thread to be woven into cloth and then embroidered."

Woven spider silk with embroidery and appliqué
On loan from Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley

Design For Cape, By Simon Peers, Madagascar, 2011

"This large-scale watercolour shows the original design for the embroidered spider silk cape displayed in the centre of the room. It is annotated with the poems and texts which inspired the design."

Pencil, watercolour and ink on paper
On loan from Simon Peers

 

Video showcasing the Spider Silk Cape