Sending
artwork
to
the
tapestry
mill
for
the
usual
process
of
in-house
translation
into
weaving
code
would
have
taken
far
too
long
and
would
have
put
another
hand
between
the
artist
and
the
finished
work.
To
meet
the
time
deadlines
involved
and
to
make
the
weaving
reflect
the
source
images
directly,
Nava,
working
with
Bay
Area
artist
Donald
Farnsworth,
developed
a
method
of
making
weavable
digital
files
of
the
tapestry
designs.
These
final
weaving
files
were
then
e-mailed
directly
to
Flanders
Tapestries
near
Bruges,
Belgium
from
Nava's
studio
in
Ojai,
California.
What
would
have
taken
in
the
16th
century
decades
to
make
with
scores
of
weavers
and
dozens
of
looms,
took
twenty
months
of
designing
and
two
months
of
weaving.
Nava
and
Flanders
Tapestries
developed
a
custom
palate
of
two
hundred
forty
colors
based
on
sixteen
colors
of
fiber
going
in
two
directions
to
create
the
images.
Multiple
tests
and
"a
hair-raising,"
as
he
describes
it,
twenty
months
of
intense
work
brought
about
a
precise
calibration
of
the
computer
monitors
and
the
woven
output
so
that
what
Nava
saw
in
his
studio
was
what
the
mill
would
produce.
All
of
the
tapestries
are
made
from
cotton
with
a
small
percentage
of
viscose
to
ensure
the
colors,
a
subtle
interplay
of
neutral
tones
evocative
of
the
ancient
frescoes
of
Italy,
will
remain
true.
Cloth
woven
from
cotton
by
the
Egyptians
has
survived
intact
for
thousands
of
years.
The
large
stone
texture
patterns
used
in
the
background
of
the
Communion
of
Saints
are
from
actual
scans
of
excavations
of
the
Via
Dolorosa
in
Jerusalem
from
the
time
of
the
Romans.
He
created
a
library
of
backyard
stones,
paper,
chipped
paint,
rust,
and
more,
bringing
them
all
together
into
a
group
of
textures
and
images
to
be
compiled
individually,
scanned
by
digital
cameras.
Nava
believes
the
deteriorated
"fresco"
texture
"marries
with
the
building
in
a
beautiful
way,"
blending
with
the
walls
as
paintings.
The
fictive
wall
textures
and
colors
of
the
tapestries
restate
the
massive
walls
of
the
Cathedral
themselves
and
serve
to
integrate
the
ensemble.
The
tapestries
vary
in
height
but
average
about
eighteen
feet
and
cover
about
three
hundred
forty
square
yards
of
area.
Behind
the
Baptismal
Font
is
a
set
of
five
tapestries
with
a
central
depiction
of
Jesus
being
baptized
by
St.
John
the
Baptist
in
the
River
Jordan.
They
are
each
forty
seven
and
a
half
feet
high
and
seven
feet
wide.
The
total
square
yardage
is
one
hundred
seventy
six
square
yards
of
tapestry.
The
great
circular
pattern
above
the
Baptism
scene
is
based
on
"Cosmati"
stone
floor
decorations
from
the
11th
century
found
in
St.
Mark's
Cathedral
in
Venice,
Italy.
The
stylized
"wavy"
water
patterns
in
the
lower
portion
are
derived
from
Byzantine
mosaic
patterns
found
at
Ravenna
and
that
were
used
throughout
the
early
Christian
period.
The
seven
tapestries
behind
the
altar
depict
a
schematic
map
of
the
streets
of
Los
Angeles
converging
with
an
overall
circular
"Cosmati"
pattern
traditionally
associated
with
the
divine.
Fittingly,
a
quote
from
the
Book
of
Revelation
is
sewn
into
the
tapestries
that
reflects
the
union
of
God
and
man
here
and
now
as
the
New
Jerusalem.
They
are
inscribed
with
the
words,
"See,
God's
dwelling
is
among
mortals.
God
will
dwell
with
them.
They
will
be
God's
people
and
God
will
be
with
them."
A
hundred
years
from
now
Nava
hopes
people
will
say
about
his
tapestries,
"These
people
were
seen
as
whole,
strong
humans,
full
of
hope."
As
he
unrolled
the
"beautiful
group
of
humans"
on
the
tapestries
sent
from
Belgium
after
the
terrible
events
of
September
11,
2001,
Nava
thought,
"This
is
the
time
when
you
want
to
love
humanity
and
see
something
that
is
really,
truly
uplifting
and
beautiful."
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