James Bassler (American, born 1933)
United States
A Weaving
INV-2282
James Bassler (American, born 1933)
United States2012
21st Centuryweavingtextile
Date
2012
Medium
Cotton, linen, silk, wild silk, nettle fiber (ramie), rayon, and wool, plain weave and slit tapestry weave with eccentric wefts
Dimensions
164.5 × 110.5 cm (63 3/4 × 43 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Christa C. Mayer Thurman Textile Endowment
A Weaving depicts an infinite loop of colorful striped thread that gives the illusion of three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface. As an educator and artist, James Bassler makes work that honors the historical weaving techniques that he has studied, practiced, and shared with his students throughout his career. Here, instead of the normal perpendicular crossings of warps and wefts, he used wedge weaving, which diverts the wefts to the diagonal. Thus, the work pays his respects to both ancient Peruvian and Diné (Navajo) cultural traditions from which wedge weaving originates.
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