Robyn Waffle is a textile-based multidisciplinary artist and award-winning rug designer based in Toronto, Canada. Working between fibre, sculpture, and installation, Waffle creates spatial textiles and layered material compositions for interiors and curated spaces. Her studio practice stems from her fascination with rug design, and through a rainbow-array of mediums, she weaves together unexpected materials to explore themes of tension, repair, transformation, and memory. Guided by a desire to honour the ancient craft of rug making, Waffle responds to the complexities of contemporary life through tactile works that exist somewhere between object and atmosphere - expressive, contemplative, and deeply rooted in materiality.
Robyn Waffle’s work exists in a constant exchange between handcraft and modern technology. Beginning with sketches, digital drawings, and rendered collages, Waffle layers images of interiors, textiles, and abstract forms into compositions that evolve from small studies into large-scale works. While technology informs her process, it’s the craftsmanship and tactile nature of the handmade details that give her pieces depth, intrigue, and creative strength.
“For nearly fifteen years, I have translated my drawings, collages, and paintings into hand-knotted rugs woven in Nepal. In my newest body of work, I bring the process full circle by weaving the same hand-spun yarns from my rugs, back into my artwork. As I bind the soft hand-spun fibres around the sharp edges of the machine-made glass it becomes a quiet, meditative act in repair - where self-reflection occurs, and a tactile connection develops between the past and the present. My practice connects me to a material language that has shaped my creative expression, while paying tribute to the weavers I’ve been collaborating with for over a decade.”
Follow me on Instagram: @ROBYN.WAFFLE • Email me: robynwaffle@gmail.com • Phone me: (+1) 647-524-0403