Lønning began weaving baskets soon after earning a BFA in ceramics and textiles. In college she developed an interest in patterns and complex weaving techniques. Although many of her vessel forms still reflect her love of ceramics, she chose basketry as the natural union of two passions. Her inspiration comes from what she sees around her, especially in architecture with its geometry and sense of space, and in nature, with all of its infinite color and texture variations. These play a major creative and emotional role for her in an ever increasing impersonal, technical and political world she is living in.

 

These baskets are woven of artist-dyed rattan reed using commercial, water-fast dyes. The technique used to weave these baskets are a 4 element twining. The textural surfaces are achieved by the artist’s own “hairy” technique, where 100’s of short pieces of reed are woven into the walls of the baskets. Encaustic medium was painted onto the surfaces then melted into the reed. This strengthens and protects the finished baskets.