12 Cycles

Art Cloth Network (ACN) is a group of 30+ juried fiber/fibre artists from the US and Canada. One of the privileges of ACN membership is the opportunity to join an internal “mini” group. One of these groups, the Westies, has recently completed what might be referred to as a SUPER round robin called 12 Cycles.

To get to know each other better and have a creative outlet during the pandemic, the Westies started the 12 Cycles challenge in January of 2021. Each artist made one piece using materials and techniques of her choice, 12 inches square with an extra inch around for the final assemblage. The only rules were that the pieces be lightweight and travel well. Each of the 12 squares was made by the sequential contributions of fellow participants. A new piece was added as each artist responded to the developing series that was mailed to her.

Each artist used the original and the subsequent pieces she received as inspiration for her response. After 18 months, each artist received her original square along with eleven additional response pieces. Together, the Westies created a dozen unique sets of 12-inch artworks.

Artists looked for connections and a path forward — always a subtle invitation to the next recipient. Each artist responded to color, materials, techniques, imagery, message, textures — whatever spoke to her in each packet she received. Like the game of "Telephone" where a whispered message morphs at each iteration, so it was with the artworks. Responses to that first and then subsequent additions moved in unexpected ways throughout the year and a half of the project as the pieces journeyed from artist to artist.

A complex spreadsheet was designed for mailing. The format allowed everyone to get a square from every other participant in a random order. Each member received a different developing series every six weeks. This included allowing for mailing between the US and Canada. With this schedule, each artist welcomed a new packet every six weeks. The process worked well even with the packets traveling across the international border. Participants loved the surprise of getting a new inspiration and challenge in the mail, an artistic stretch, enriching and inspirational.

There were a few near glitches along the way. The person who created the spreadsheet was the only one to mail her pieces off to the wrong recipient! And there was potential for water damage to a box that was left out in the rain by a mail carrier who had, apparently, not read the weather report. Luckily, the artworks had been wrapped in a strong plastic bag inside the cardboard box. And, miraculously, nothing was lost. Several got held up by customs but were released after a few nerve-wracking days.

At the conclusion, each artist had the challenge of individually arranging her series into a coherent whole. Some chose to create a 3-D folding book, some made 4’ x 3’ panels, while others chose to hang theirs in columns or other configurations.

The process of organizing, responding, creating, mailing, receiving, stretching, and finally, assembling, has given the members a deeper familiarity with one another’s artistry. The final artworks reflect the efforts of twelve fine artists and were documented in a catalog and website. The final compositions were exhibited in the Winter/Spring of 2023, at the Eddie Rhodes Gallery at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, California. Additional exhibition venues are being planned.

My original piece began with three questions. Which color direction did I want to explore (and have in my home?) Which techniques would I use? Did I have a piece of fabric that could become my foundation?

As I looked through my collection of cloth that I printed, one stood out. It was an early monoprint experiment of turquoise green, red, blue, and yellow-gold, thick paint on cotton, a color combination that I enjoy. I chose it as my background. I selected a section for the composition and then enhanced it with stitching and beads. Once completed, I hoped it would inspire our other eleven artists. Little did I know that the process of choosing my background from older experimental pieces would provide me a beginning strategy to respond to the next eleven pieces I would receive.

In the finished 12-square piece, each square is joined to echo the ‘riot of color’ in my original square. I arranged them so that the various themes would move the eye around and intersect: the pinks, the reds, the pieces with diagonals. They snake through the piece, balanced by the two ‘calmer’ squares, centered up and down, that give the eye a place to rest.

Provided below are: 1) my original square; 2) the 12 squares assembled into one whole piece; 3) my response piece; 4) the 11 squares in order of response to my original square.

Intersections

Intersections - Response piece by Ileana Soto to the 12 Cycles project