Windy chien

Meet Windy Chien, San Francisco punk-rock goddess, Silicon Valley sweetheart, neo-nautical fiber sculptor—and our very first Monthly Muse.

In Chien’s hands, a single length of rope can transform into a large-scale sculpture.

In January of 2016, artist Windy Chien devoted herself to learning a new knot every day for a year, tying a total of 366 by December 31st (2016 was a leap year). Although 366 knots might seem like a staggering number, it is nothing compared to the 3,900 included in Chien’s go-to knot manual—The Ashley Book ofContinue reading "Artist Windy Chien Unearths Obscure Knots Everyday for an Entire Year"

I’m chatting with Windy Chien, about giving yourself permission to take big risks, and making space for a creative life on your own terms.

There’s no denying the positive, feel-good vibes at artist Windy Chien‘s studio. I felt it almost immediately upon stepping into her creative space, where an entire year’s worth of handmade knots cover the walls, in-progress…

"The #YearOfKnots gives me many rich things. It's a daily ritual that allows me to quickly access the blissful state of flow that had previously been so elusive to me. It's my art school, where I learn the elemental building blocks of art: line, form, shape, space, texture, and color. It's a history lesson, where I learn knots' context in nautical life, the material and physical properties of rope, and how for any given situation there's a knot that is right while all the others are wrong…