Jovencio de la Paz

Jovencio de la Paz (b. 1986, Republic of Singapore) lives and works in Eugene, Oregon.

The work of Jovencio de la Paz is situated in the intersection of radically different technologies: the loom and the modern computer. They approach this intersection both as a traditionally trained weaver and a digital native. Sharing the same language of binary code, this ancient technology and software are both exploited, disrupted and even undermined in de la Paz’s work. They use the digital TC2 (Thread Controller 2) Jacquard loom to manipulate, hack, confound, and fracture design software to explore and test the boundaries of how cloth is typically conceived. They push design software to the point of rupture or failure, capturing the physicality of these behaviors as the warp and weft of hand- woven textiles. Consequently, the works become irreducibly unique “accidents” or formal aberrations. As such, the material history and conceptual nature of the work reflects and embodies the personal politics and non binary identity of the artist not merely as a form of affirmative representation, but rather as a complex space of potential.

They received their MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Cumulative Shadow,” solo show is currently on view at Holding Contemporary, Portland. Recent solo exhibition was “The Ends Of Rainbows,” Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, 2023. Recent group exhibitions include “Conflictual Distance,” EFA Project Space Program, New York, 2024; and “Weaving Data,” Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, New York, 2023. They have participated in ART SG, Singapore, 2024.