Woven Rhythms: Textile, Music, Motion

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to welcome the public to Qianwen Yu’s exhibition Woven Rhythms: Textile, Music, Motion!

Qianwen Yu is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and independent animator whose practice bridges the worlds of weaving and music. With a background in architecture and drawing, Qianwen translates musical compositions into woven textures and creates symphonies from weaving drafts, exploring the deep connections between these art forms.
This exhibition brings together three works—“Weaving Philip Glass’s Opening,” “Woven Symphony,” and “The Rhythm Behind the City”—to demonstrate how rhythm, texture, and motion can transcend traditional boundaries, linking the tactile, auditory, and visual elements of weaving, music, and architecture. Through these works, I aim to create a sensory experience that encourages viewers to explore the fluidity between art forms, revealing the hidden patterns and structures that connect them.
By translating music into textiles, weaving into sound, and the city’s “skin” into animation, this exhibition invites audiences to engage with familiar mediums in new ways. Whether through the repetitive musical pattern of woven fabric, the pictorial texture of a symphony, or the geometric rhythm of city’s “skin” animated in motion, each piece underscores the interconnectedness of these art forms, I hope to make these art forms accessible to diverse audiences, including those with sensory impairments.

Woven Rhythms: Textile, Music, Motion will be exhibited in the Second Floor and Atrium Gallery of Evanston Art Center. Opening reception is free and open to the public. This exhibition is partially funded by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the EAC’s general membership.