The Goldilocks Zone

double face woven textile, cotton and wool yarn, 185 x 102 cm, 2025

A circumstellar habitable zone is defined in physics as the area around a star where a planet, given sufficient mass and atmospheric pressure, can sustain the existence of liquid water on its surface. This area is metaphorically referred to as “The Goldilocks Zone”, inspired by a classic children’s fairytale. In the story, a little girl named Goldilocks, when faced with sets of three, always chooses the option that is “just right”, ignoring those that are too extreme, such as those that are too hot or too cold.

In “The Goldilocks Zone”, water can flow, allowing life to exist in its—so far known—form. Where water flows, people flow, and intimate stories are woven as memories unfold. Inspired by this idea, the double-sided fabric depicts an aerial view of an imaginary land, a homeland surrounded by water.

During its creation process, involving a computer-controlled digital Jacquard loom, technical issues occurred, preventing it from following the originally submitted design. A shaft system movement error controlling the warp threads left the machine moving in an uncontrolled rhythm. The unwoven threads, a cascade resembling a glitch effect, were manually woven back into the fabric. The piece emerges from a human–machine interaction.