Montse Roa. Cestería Contemporanea
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Minimum order €100
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- Since 2016
Montse Roa is a product designer (ELISAVA, Barcelona) and film art director (ESCAC, Barcelona).
In 2015 he left his hometown, Barcelona, and went to live in the countryside, in the middle of the rice fields of the Ebro Delta and it was in that place where he discovered basketry: creativity, calm, precision and connection with nature.
It is a slow path, first he learns self-taught and then attends sporadic workshops on different Catalan basket weaving techniques and collaborates with designers and artisans.
In 2020, she was confined with 30 kg of wicker and began to investigate a more personal line, where she combined her design knowledge with traditional basket weaving techniques, giving rise to her first Zig-Zag collection.
Currently, Montse loves to spend hours and hours in the workshop making small collections with the intention of solving contemporary needs with traditional braiding techniques and using plant fibers, mainly wicker.
The pieces that Montse makes are completely handmade, it is a slow and laborious process.
First, the most suitable wickers are chosen to make the piece and they are immersed in water for 15 days so that they acquire the ideal elasticity and flexibility to be braided.
Next, the structural parts of the pieces, the main ribs, are made with the help of wooden molds and left to dry for about 10 days. With the help of a central axis, the different structures and nerves are joined and you can begin to weave the piece with finer wickers, normally using the Zig-zag technique.
This technique is inspired by the traditional rib technique that was used to make collection baskets. But in this case, it gives rise to bags for contemporary use.
Montse usually works with natural wicker, although she experiments and uses other plant fibers. Natural wicker (salix purpurea) is wicker left to dry, which can be stored for a couple of years to be used.
Montse's work seeks to combine tradition and modernity, find new uses for basketry and value this ancient craft. Their creations are nourished by many things, each collection is inspired by a concept: Modernizing an ancient technique, representing a loved one, combining nature and urbanity, etc.
She enjoys conceptual processes, the search for new technical and material solutions and small details.
"When you start working with your hands with plant fibers, you can no longer use any other material. The pleasure that comes from working with plant materials is indescribable, it is like hugging a tree all the time. Where the idea of waste, garbage or pollution does not exist.”
In 2015 he left his hometown, Barcelona, and went to live in the countryside, in the middle of the rice fields of the Ebro Delta and it was in that place where he discovered basketry: creativity, calm, precision and connection with nature.
It is a slow path, first he learns self-taught and then attends sporadic workshops on different Catalan basket weaving techniques and collaborates with designers and artisans.
In 2020, she was confined with 30 kg of wicker and began to investigate a more personal line, where she combined her design knowledge with traditional basket weaving techniques, giving rise to her first Zig-Zag collection.
Currently, Montse loves to spend hours and hours in the workshop making small collections with the intention of solving contemporary needs with traditional braiding techniques and using plant fibers, mainly wicker.
The pieces that Montse makes are completely handmade, it is a slow and laborious process.
First, the most suitable wickers are chosen to make the piece and they are immersed in water for 15 days so that they acquire the ideal elasticity and flexibility to be braided.
Next, the structural parts of the pieces, the main ribs, are made with the help of wooden molds and left to dry for about 10 days. With the help of a central axis, the different structures and nerves are joined and you can begin to weave the piece with finer wickers, normally using the Zig-zag technique.
This technique is inspired by the traditional rib technique that was used to make collection baskets. But in this case, it gives rise to bags for contemporary use.
Montse usually works with natural wicker, although she experiments and uses other plant fibers. Natural wicker (salix purpurea) is wicker left to dry, which can be stored for a couple of years to be used.
Montse's work seeks to combine tradition and modernity, find new uses for basketry and value this ancient craft. Their creations are nourished by many things, each collection is inspired by a concept: Modernizing an ancient technique, representing a loved one, combining nature and urbanity, etc.
She enjoys conceptual processes, the search for new technical and material solutions and small details.
"When you start working with your hands with plant fibers, you can no longer use any other material. The pleasure that comes from working with plant materials is indescribable, it is like hugging a tree all the time. Where the idea of waste, garbage or pollution does not exist.”
