Eef Oost

Weaver

©Eef Oost

©Marleen Daniels

©Eef Oost

©Luc Daelemans

A matter of mathematics

Eef specialises in jacquard weaving
She is inspired by architecture and graphics
She loves the beauty of Belgian linen

Trained as an engineer architect, Eef Oost soon started to miss tactility and directness in her daily practice. That’s why she decided to go back to school to study textile design. When the teacher explained the working of a loom during the first class with the warp, the weft and the shafts, and the fact that when those threads cross each other you can create different bindings, she was enamoured. After working at Betet Skara, a social weaving project with Assyrian weavers in Antwerp, and after working for six years as a designer for a Belgian linen weaving mill, Oost founded her own studio specialised in jacquard weaving in 2015. She likes to give artistic value to every day objects, so people will cherish them more.

Interview

©Eef Oost

©Eef Oost

What do you like about textile design?: Besides the endless possibilities I love the tactility, the textures and colours and the mathematical side of weaving. As it takes up to three days to set up the loom, you have to calculate and think a lot before you start. You need a lot of patience.
Does architecture still influence your work?: It continues to be my main source of inspiration. I also take pictures of graphic compositions in my surroundings. In my creations, I search for a balance between the graphic image, the uniqueness of the material and the technical weaving process.
How is your craft linked to your homeland?: I like to work with the imperfect, but beautiful material linen. The collaboration with Belgian weaving mills or yarn suppliers is interesting to make crossovers between the industrial looms and the creative possibilities of manual weaving.
What do you love most about your profession?: As my swatches are bought by industrial weavers and editors to further develop, I can fully explore my creativity. Besides I like to develop interior and architecture projects from A to Z. I love to feel the interaction between the textile and the surrounding space.

Eef Oost is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2006