Who is MANCA

Growing up in the highlands of Western Slovenia, away from all distractions of social city life, Manca (not much unlike Heidi), needed to feed her creativity with constantly exploring hand crafts that were present in the daily farm life. From her parents and grandparents she learned everything from crochet and knitting to basket weaving and carpentry. During entire primary school she was attending also the Lace School in Žiri, which is with its 110 years of operation one of the main centers of lacemaking in the region. Studying product design and architecture in Ljubljana and Barcelona she stepped away from traditional crafts and directed her focus towards contemporary, computer driven methods of design. Besides architectural design she would also create virtual environments for a number of architectural offices, private clients and museums.
After years of successful collaborations in architecture, where she also won numerous awards, Manca became increasingly interested in the connection between architectural space and lace (its appearance and structure, material and decorative possibilities, etc.). Her latest works in spatial lace have received international acclaim and been published worldwide. Currently based in New York, Manca moves easily through several levels of scale in her lace fabrications, from jewelry pieces to large architectural installations.

Why BOBBIN LACE

“I consider lace to be one of the prettiest imitations ever made of the fantasy of nature; lace always evokes for me those incomparable designs which the branches and leaves of trees embroider across the sky, and I do not think that any invention of the human spirit could have a more graceful or precise origin.”

​Coco Chanel

​The art of lacemaking has spread throughout Europe in 16th century and was valued as a form of portable wealth and a sign of prosperity. Ever since, lace has maintained its popularity and association with prestige, luxury and elegance. 
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BOBBIN LACE is made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins - special wooden spools with an extension to hold them. A pattern or pricking that is pinned on the round pillow will determine the design of the lace. As the work progresses following the pattern, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow.

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