TITLE: Harmonic Oscillation XXXV
DATED: 2006
NAME: James Koehler
E-Mail Address:
Website:
DATE: (born 1952)
MEDIUM: Hand-dyed wool tapestry
DIMENSIONS: 41 x 60.5 in. (104.1 x 153.7 cm)
CREDITLINE: Courtesy of the artist, Santa Fe, New Mexico
CURRENT SITE: Reykjavik
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ARTIST STATEMENT/BIO: "I began weaving in 1977 while living at a Benedictine monastery in northern New Mexico and spent the next ten years working in the monastery weaving shop. I was given many opportunities at that time--learning to weave and dye, learning about the creative process, learning about solitude, learning how to focus my energy. There was no lack of inspiration living in the beauty and austerity of a New Mexican wilderness.
Whatever it was that drew me to the rhythms of monastic life, also drew me to the rhythms of the loom and to the rhythms of life as an artist/weaver. I now spend ten to twelve hours at the loom or in the dye studio each working day. The process of passing the shuttle through the warp and filling design areas with color has a meditative, hypnotic quality for me.
Color, structure, and form are the focus of my approach to design. In working out the details of a design, I have chosen to work within the technical limitations of flat tapestry. I continue to be influenced by the extraordinary landscape and the unique cultures of New Mexico and by certain aspects of the monastic aesthetic--simplicity, purity, and seeking and portraying only what is essential.
Tapestry focuses on process--the creative, constructive process. My woven images reflect the relationship of this process with the rhythmic, repetitive yet unpredictable process inherent in the natural world. At first glance, my tapestries are a regular, ordered composition of geometric forms, but on a deeper level the discerning viewer discovers the vital movement of color which brings the forms to life."
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