 |
|
|
|
|
|
Artist: James Koehler ( United States, 1952 - present )
|
|
|
|
|
Main Category: Fiber
|
|
|
Genres: Modern Art, Color Field
|
|
|
|
Biography: James Koehler is one of the most sought after weavers in the southwest, with his vibrant tapestries attracting the attention of important collectors and museums. He lives in Santa Fe where he maintains his studio, finding inspiration for his work in the extraordinary landscape and the unique cultures of New Mexico.
Born in 1952 in Detroit, Michigan he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Koehler came to the southwest and weaving by an unusual path. In 1977 he entered a Benedictine monastery near Abiquiu, New Mexico. The superior told him that the monastery needed a weaver, and as a matter of monastic obedience Koehler accepted the challenge and discovered that weaving was truly his life work. For the next ten years he was left to learn on his own, mostly from books.
One of his first commissions at the monastery was to weave an interpretation in wool of a red and yellow abstract painting by Mark Rothko. "I discovered that there was movement in the color fields of that painting," Koehler remembers, "and when I completed and hung the tapestry it was alive with the movement of woven colors." He developed a special double tapestry technique for that piece which literally super-imposes two images.
When he realized that the time had come to leave the monastery and reenter the world, he knew that it would be as a weaver. Partly because of his monastic background and work in anthropology, his tapestries often include pan-cultural motifs and evocative symbolism.
In 1990 Koehler began weaving editions of tapestries inspired by Navajo chief blankets. Thoroughly rooted in the cultural traditions of the American southwest, his work is boldly contemporary and very much his own. The tapestries combine abstract shapes and unique colors with superb craftsmanship and have brought him an enthusiastic following in the art world. He dyes his own wool to achieve vibrant colors, does all of the weaving himself and produces his tapestries in limited editions much as printmakers and sculptors always have done. Each tapestry is signed and numbered, and the editions are limited to eight. A number of Koehler editions are still available. Among them are the Koshare Windows, Ceremonial Masks, Summer Dances, Winter Dances, Corbels, Moqui Bands, Arroyo Salado, Oaxaca Stone, Solstice, Koan, Pueblos and Plains, Totems, Codex, and Regarding Abiquiu and Harmonic Oscillations. A number of studies for various pieces from the Chief Blanket editions are also available.
In 2001, after completing 99 tapestries which are available in limited edition, Koehler chose to no longer add images to the editions. All new tapestries will be unique and original. Orders continue to be accepted for edition tapestries which are still available. James Koehler's future is as bright and exciting as the images which fill his mind and find their way into his personal celebration of the land and cultures which are an intrinsic part of his life.
|
|
