ANJI BARTHOLF
TAPESTRY ARTIST
The natural world is full of infinite variations of color and form, light and sound, pattern and movement. My tapestries are abstract expressions of these patterns and cycles in nature, architectural forms, golden proportions, dreams, rhythms of music, chi flow, the vibration of movement and stillness, the bird world. With the instrument of my loom and the underlying structure of the grid inherent in weaving, a visual language emerges from the interplay of harmonic forms, saturated fields of color and patterns of light and dark. The gradual accumulation of these interactions of color and form become a woven poem, line by weft line.
Weaving a tapestry is a slow, rhythmic and meditative process and each piece becomes imbued with these qualities. The tapestry medium, like nature, asks one to pay attention, to listen, to see, to slow down and in this way they both serve as nourishment and inspiration. Process and creativity are inextricably linked. I am drawn to the merging of geometric forms with the supple quality of the weaving medium and the way the wool weft colors permeate the warp canvas giving the work an aliveness and depth. The weft undulating over and under the warp expresses movement and stillness interwoven. In each tapestry I explore the rhythms of the earth, the environment in which I live and the various perceptions that arise, and through the process of weaving transform these insights into abstract homages to the beauty and mystery of this world.
