Terracotta Kemaliye Canyon Loom-Woven Wool Rug, Günyolu Series

Karanlık Kanyon — the Dark Canyon — cuts through Kemaliye in Erzincan, and this rug is a picture of it: terracotta cliffs rising on both sides, a gray-blue river running away into the middle distance, a low sun on the horizon.

01The mark of slow weaving

Terracotta Kemaliye Canyon Loom-Woven Wool Rug, Günyolu Series, made only at 200 × 300 cm, which is 6'7" by 9'10". The perspective is drawn hard enough that the floor stops behaving like a floor.

02Where it sits in the house

The sun in the middle is not decoration either: for a short window each year it appears to set directly down the canyon's axis, and that is the moment the design records. A rug carrying this much depth needs everything else to stand back — white or light gray walls, few pieces of furniture, and as much daylight as the room can supply. Wool makes the rock and Tencel® makes the water.

03What the yarn is

The matt fiber holds the terracotta and gives the cliffs their weight; the reflective one lights the river and the sun, so the light inside the picture moves when the light in the room moves.

04Knot by knot, by hand

It is loom-woven, meaning the loom ties the knots and the finishing is done by hand, and the looms stand in Kütahya and in Oushak. The tree of life Halıcızade signs its commissions with is woven into every rug.

05From ground to pile

Professional cleaning only. The looms stand in Kütahya and in Oushak. Surface of wool with Tencel®; the foundation is cotton. A landscape of the Dark Canyon at Kemaliye: cliffs, river and setting sun. The sun marks the brief annual alignment down the canyon's axis. Wool builds the rock; Tencel® lights the water and the sky. Two meters by three, and no other size. Needs a plain room and plenty of daylight to be seen properly. Marked with the tree of life. Nature spent several million years cutting that canyon; this is the version that came off a loom, and the only one that fits in a living room.