Willowweave: An Exploration of Form
Willowweave started with the simple idea of controlling a curve with a parametric equation whose points are given by (x(t), y(t), z(t)).
That first curve served as Willowweave’s backbone in both senses of the word — it is what physically holds her together and provides the language for the rest of her design.
Usually my designs are built like battleships. They are rigorously defined — precise geometry giving the device structure. Lengths, angles, lines, arcs all are set against each other to be the bones of the design. I can change a measurement and everything recalculates and the design is constrained into a new configuration — perhaps 30 parameters dictating its geometry. I command the device into its form: this is what you are.
With Willowweave, the approach is different. Sweeping curves are guided along her contours. They flow into one another, not through the rigid constraints that I've used in the past, but through gentle pressures. It feels more like shaping a plant as it grows.
In Willowweave’s early iterations, I intended her solely for me — I’ve always valued uniqueness. But as I've explored how the design can change, how her curves can flow in different ways, and how each variation can have its own character yet still be Willowweave, I came to realize that exploring the forms she can take doesn't diminish her uniqueness. It is part of it.