Etla

Michael F. Rohde

23.5 x 32 inches

2020

ARTIST STATEMENT

My approach to tapestry weaving is to work within the structure of woven cloth, and to honor the grid as a primary design element. Hence, as I keep my eyes on the things I see, new ideas come to mind. On my fourth trip to Oaxaca recently, I was drawn to the colors and geometries of building facades. Back in the studio, I cropped photos and reduced them to a series of squares, maintaining a sense of the original, though not as a pictorial copy. Etla is a building front, with a fresh coat of paint in a rich color. Though the wall was painted all with the same color, the play of light and shadow created shifts that were only evident by breaking out the large pixels of the sketch. Also an intriguing challenge was to dye these hues.

MATERIALS

Wool, natural dyes

Hand woven tapestry