ARTISTS
Julia Bland: Woven in the Reeds
Aldrich Projects | Julia Bland: Woven in the Reeds is the artist鈥檚 first solo museum presentation, debuting a monumental tapestry composed of canvas, ropes, linen nets, and fabrics that are dyed, woven, braided, tied, and sewn by hand.
Bland grew up in Palo Alto, California, in the shadow of the counterculture movement of the 1960s鈥�70s, and in the nascent stages of technological utopianism. Raised by parents with different religious backgrounds鈥攈er mother is Jewish, and her father is a Presbyterian minister鈥擝land鈥檚 upbringing was marked by a blend of spiritual influences. In 2008, she was awarded a fellowship to work in Morocco, where she lived on and off for several years. During this time, she studied Sufism and immersed herself in the country鈥檚 rich customs, materials, and craftsmanship.
Informed by these personal experiences, Bland鈥檚 textiles reflect a synthesis of visual cultures across time and place. Her work blends the tie-dyed, kaleidoscopic imagery of psychedelia with sacred Islamic geometry and Judeo-Christian symbols. Bland鈥檚 meticulous layering, diverse materials, and intricate fiber techniques result in compositions that exude rhythmic intensity and devotional energy, evoking the mystical abstractions of transcendentalist painters like Hilma af Klint and Emma Kunz.
The confluence of openwork netting and solid patches of material coalesce at certain points to form distinct shapes while dissolving into others, depending on the viewer鈥檚 perception. In this way, Bland references the Shifting Gestalt Effect, an optical phenomenon that emphasizes the whole of patterns and objects over their individual elements. One image that may emerge is the 鈥減riestly hands,鈥� a powerful religious symbol from ancient Judeo-Christian traditions representing divine protection. The work鈥檚 title, Woven in the Reeds, refers both to Judaism, where reeds are valued for their flexibility and strength and used for writing the Torah, and to Sufism, where鈥攁s the artist explains鈥斺�淭he song of the reed flute laments its separation from the reed bed, and is a frequent metaphor for the longing for God.鈥�
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Aldrich Projects | Julia Bland: Woven in the Reeds is the artist鈥檚 first solo museum presentation, debuting a monumental tapestry composed of canvas, ropes, linen nets, and fabrics that are dyed, woven, braided, tied, and sewn by hand.
Bland grew up in Palo Alto, California, in the shadow of the counterculture movement of the 1960s鈥�70s, and in the nascent stages of technological utopianism. Raised by parents with different religious backgrounds鈥攈er mother is Jewish, and her father is a Presbyterian minister鈥擝land鈥檚 upbringing was marked by a blend of spiritual influences. In 2008, she was awarded a fellowship to work in Morocco, where she lived on and off for several years. During this time, she studied Sufism and immersed herself in the country鈥檚 rich customs, materials, and craftsmanship.
Informed by these personal experiences, Bland鈥檚 textiles reflect a synthesis of visual cultures across time and place. Her work blends the tie-dyed, kaleidoscopic imagery of psychedelia with sacred Islamic geometry and Judeo-Christian symbols. Bland鈥檚 meticulous layering, diverse materials, and intricate fiber techniques result in compositions that exude rhythmic intensity and devotional energy, evoking the mystical abstractions of transcendentalist painters like Hilma af Klint and Emma Kunz.
The confluence of openwork netting and solid patches of material coalesce at certain points to form distinct shapes while dissolving into others, depending on the viewer鈥檚 perception. In this way, Bland references the Shifting Gestalt Effect, an optical phenomenon that emphasizes the whole of patterns and objects over their individual elements. One image that may emerge is the 鈥減riestly hands,鈥� a powerful religious symbol from ancient Judeo-Christian traditions representing divine protection. The work鈥檚 title, Woven in the Reeds, refers both to Judaism, where reeds are valued for their flexibility and strength and used for writing the Torah, and to Sufism, where鈥攁s the artist explains鈥斺�淭he song of the reed flute laments its separation from the reed bed, and is a frequent metaphor for the longing for God.鈥�
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