Land Lines installation reimagines landscapes in hanging fabrics

Oklahoma artist Rachel Hayes stitched together colourful fabrics to create abstract representations of natural landscapes that hang in a Los Angeles gallery.

Called Land Lines, the project comprises 12 panels that hang the full length of a 13-foot-high (3.9-metre-high) in a space in Lowell Ryan Projects gallery.

Hayes, who is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has stitched together rectangular cuts to create the geometric designs. They each comprise a mix of opaque and translucent fabrics in bright colours.

The artist typically creates large-scale geometric textiles that she installs in a range of environments. Land Lines is intended to reference the forms and shapes of landscapes, which she describes as influenced by a range of sources.

"When I think about what landscape drawing means to me, I think of fields of tulips in Holland, beaches scattered with hundreds of wind breakers in New Jersey, lines of laundry running between buildings, textiles lying out to dry in India, rows of corn and wheat in the Midwest, "Smithson's Spiral Jetty, the surrounded islands of Christo and Jean-Claude, and the sprayed paint from Katharina Grosse covering buildings and walls," Hayes explained.

"Knowing about, and seeing all these ways of creating markings on the land has always had an impact on my imagination," she added.

A mixture of polyester, nylon and cotton rectangular segments are arranged in horizontal and vertical orientations so that each panel is different.

One is made of a series of vertical shapes of similar sizes for example, while another has cuts that gradually decrease in size towards the centre.

They form a contrast to the muted hues of the industrial-style gallery space, which has exposed piping and beams, white walls and grey flooring.  Each is suspended from delicate wires in rows offset from one another, inviting visitors to walk around them.

"Viewers will be encouraged to wander through the maze-like installation and experience shifting patterns of color and light as sheer sections frame the panels behind and around them," said Lowell Ryan Projects.

"Confronted with the scale of Hayes' work, viewer's perceptions of space are challenged, while the rhythm of pattern begs the viewer to slow down and contemplate the experience," it added.

Land Lines is on show at Lowell Ryan Projects on 4851 W Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles from 16 May to 27 June. It is available to view by appointment due to restrictions caused by the pandemic.

Design studio Orange or Red similarly recently created a series of huge tapestries called Dashes that could be installed in multifunctional spaces.

The project was showcased as part of Virtual Design Festival's collaboration with Ventura Projects, in which it presented the work of 88 international designers, academies and brands.

Photography is by Ruben Diaz.