The intuitive art of wild weaving
- Guillaume’s pieces are organically shaped and intricately interwoven
- He typically uses 1 to 2 kg of wicker to make each basket
- Making one of his signature backpacks requires up to eight hours of weaving
It was in 2019 that Guillaume Caruso discovered wild basketweaving, in the Andalusian mountains, where he wove intuitively with wood, lianas and bark. Prior to this, he had trained in traditional French wicker basketweaving at a national basketry school with master artisans in France. Today, Guillaume makes unique, contemporary and traditional basketweaving enriched by years of meetings, exchanges and transmission. He uses exclusively French wicker and wild local species, and he also creates sculptural pieces in limited series. “My work is characterised by the search for harmony, restraint and authenticity. I play on the softness and flexibility of wood, which allows me to express my sensitivity, poetry and passion for life,” Guillaume says. He was selected as guest of honour among 40 artists at a garden exhibition, for which he created two sculptural works.
INTERVIEW
I fell in love with working with wood and its flexibility when I first wove a chestnut fence in a medicinal garden.
Basketweaving requires few tools – the main tools are the hands. This direct contact with the material is what makes the craft so special. I do also use knives, bodkins, secateurs, rapping irons, cleavers and a few other tools.
It depends on the project. Before creating, I always visualise shapes, volumes, colours, material and mixtures. I create several mental projections that are akin to virtual 3D drawings. I draw with a pencil or ballpoint pen on paper.
For my sculptural and more contemporary pieces, I mix wicker varieties as well as bark from local and various wild species, and sometimes vines. For certain pieces, I use high-quality saddle leather made by a professional.
