Creative Matters and RDAI Present a Collection of Five Hand-Knotted Rugs

Five rugs examine spiders, butterflies and coral

The collection takes its name from ‘Zoometry’, defined as the geometry of the living world and the organic micro-structures found within it. Each rug focuses on a different detail or structure found in the natural world.

Spider 01 takes inspiration from the seemingly random, multilayered compositions of tangle web spiders. An elaborate mix of artisanal techniques creates the woven structure, with golden silk threads emerging through a clear, misty wool surface.

Spider 02 looks to the delicate structure of spider webs, focusing on the moment when dew reveals their otherwise almost invisible geometry. Bright drops of water suspended across the silk membranes expose the precise patterns stretched across the surface.

Butterfly 01 examines the microscopic scales covering a butterfly’s wings. Arranged like shingles, these overlapping scales reflect and refract light through their tiny three-dimensional ridges.

The rug translates this structure into a gradient and radiating motif, with colour gradually revealing a fine rectangular geometric pattern.

Butterfly 02 draws on the eyespots, or ocelli, found on the wings of many butterfly species. Colour and shape shift gradually in value and scale through an overlay of tiny rectangular cells, referencing the scales that cover the butterfly’s wings.

Butterfly 03 focuses on the network of veins running through a butterfly’s wing, which gives it shape, lightness and the ability to fly. Simple contour lines trace the dynamic curve of a wing as it unfolds, capturing the moment before it reaches full extension.

Coral 01 takes its pattern from the geometric structures of coral formations. Its custom linear design captures the gradual, organic development of coral in a single colourful composition, reflecting growth that takes place over a much longer timescale than our own.

Digital compositions are translated into hand-knotted rugs in Nepal

The rugs are hand-knotted in Nepal at 200 knots using Himalayan wool and Chinese silk. Wool provides warmth, resilience and tactile richness, while silk introduces luminosity and shifting colour as it catches the light.

For a single 3 × 2 metre rug, more than 1.8 million pixels are mapped into individual knots. The digital compositions establish the framework, but their translation into rugs relies on the experience and sensitivity of the master weavers.

Alongside the finished rugs, the Zoometry exhibition features specially commissioned photography and film by Nepalese photojournalist Narendra Shrestha. His work follows the project from architectural research and digital modelling to the weaving workshops and landscapes of Nepal, documenting the processes and people behind the collection.

A selection of collectible artworks and design objects curated by Mouvement Moderne gallery will also be displayed alongside the rugs, creating a dialogue around materiality, form and nature.

Creative Matters and RDAI have developed a close collaborative relationship through numerous projects over many years. Zoometry extends that partnership into more experimental territory, drawing on RDAI’s annual creative research