American textile artist Cathy Jacobs’ woven art is a celebration of colour. Originally from a painting background she is interested in the moiré effect created by the layering of different yarns. She describes her art as “atmospheric, ethereal, and visually vibrating with colour.”

Firstly where are you from and where do you live now?

I grew up in a semi-industrial area near Detroit, Michigan. I now live 35 miles west, in Ann Arbor. My house is across the street from a forest. The air is fresher and every season is beautiful with its own colours and particular light. It is quite common for me to leave the studio and realise that the colours I chose for a weaving were the colours that were outside.

Can you tell us about your background in textiles?

I came to textiles in a round about way. I studied painting at Wayne State University in Detroit. As a painter, I was always inspired by fine textiles like Armenian rugs, ornate upholstery fabrics, and silk gowns. In 2013, as a graduate candidate in painting at Eastern Michigan University, I had the opportunity to learn to dye silk organza. I began gluing down the different colours of silk organza onto white wooden panels to make paintings. What I noticed was that layering semi-transparent pieces of silk creates a moiré effect (a wavy pattern). The grid of a silk weave is very small and one needs to look closely to see the moiré pattern. I wanted to recreate this moiré effect so that it could be seen from across a room. The way to do this would be to learn to weave so that I could make a semi-transparent grid much larger than that of silk organza. I learned to weave in the following semester. It was so exciting! Everything that I had been looking for in two-dimensional painting – colour, light, atmosphere – were found in weaving in three-dimensional space.

How do you describe your work? 

The work is atmospheric, ethereal, and visually vibrating with colour. I am essentially making coloured screens and grids for the viewer to look through. I often describe the woven works as 3-dimensional colour field paintings. The colours of the yarns and screens mix optically. They visually vibrate because our eyes cannot make sense of the fine lines and layered grids. From further away, the layered weavings often look like glass. (A lot of the optical play can only happen when seen in person.) I think of my stitched pieces or my small handloom tapestries as abstract drawings.

Were you always drawn to weaving or was it a gradual process? 

I was actually repelled by it at first. I am not a natural when it comes to using machines, and the floor loom is a pretty intricate machine. I am a little embarrassed to say that the first time I walked past a floor loom, I cringed inside. I thought, who would ever want to use that? After I learned what I could weave on a loom, I loved the machine and weaving.

What is it about weaving that appeals to you? 

Weaving is all about tension, knots, and patience. I enjoy controlling the tension of the yarn, and I am good at tying and untying knots. Weaving is also an exercise in patience because there are a lot of mechanical and repetitive actions that need to be done to work a floor loom. This could be frustrating for someone like me who is slow with repetitive movements and mechanical operations. But, I am very patient.

What type of yarn / fibres do you weave with and why?

I mostly use linen yarn. I love the way linen yarn shines like silk. However, unlike silk, it has a tooth that makes the warp and weft threads cling to each other. This is very helpful for the kind of weaving I do. Linen also has an art historical meaning and romantic appeal for me. As a painter, linen was always the finest ground that I could choose to paint on. It was always something special.

Where do you work? 

I have a small bright studio space in a large warehouse full of other artist studios. I had been doing almost all of my work there (that’s where my large floor loom is) until Covid hit. Now, I have been thinking of projects that I can do at home away from the loom. 

Can you talk us through designing a piece of work please? 

For me, there always has to be an element of surprise. I don’t like to know the outcome of a piece until it is finished. For woven dimensional works, I will begin with an abstract idea for colours (often unconsciously inspired by nature around me). Then, I look at my yarn swatches to see what colours I might use. Based on the yarn colours, I will choose coloured pencils approximating those colours and do some designing on graph paper. Of course, then I do the math and figure out approximately how much yarn I will need for the warps and wefts. Nothing is precise because I like to make decisions as I go along. Fine colour changes that are found in the pattern are decided as I weave. I never know what the piece will really look like until I hang it on the wall. Even then, I might change the order of my panels around, even re-weave panels until I think the final piece sings.

I know it’s a hard question but how long does a piece generally take to make? 

A piece takes anywhere from six days to six months. The largest piece featured in this interview took me six or eight weeks.

What has been your proudest career moment so far? 

It was when I had my woven artwork displayed at SOFA Expo in Chicago at the Navy Pier. I could hardly believe it! Over the years, I had often taken the five hour train ride from Detroit to Chicago to see international art shows at the Navy Pier. Now, my work was there! 

What advice can you give aspiring textile artists?

Keep Going! A long time ago, an old art professor once told me, “Cathy, you need to calm down. Art is an old man’s game.” That might sound agist and sexist, but it really put me at ease about the work that I was stressing over as a 22 year old. I suddenly understood that if I kept working at it, over time, I would get better and better.

Are you exhibiting anwhere? 

I was invited to have my weavings exhibited at Cluster Crafts Fair in London at the end of the month. This would have been a first for me to show overseas. However, due to Covid, the venue is going virtual. It is unfortunate, but at the same time, the art world is evolving and this is a chance to be at the cutting edge of using new technologies for reaching audiences. I am optimistic.

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