Jacquelyn Roesch-Sanchez
ARTIST STATEMENT
My fiber art is about color and precision, using intricate combinations of pre-dyed viscose threads that result in nature-inspired works from sunlit prisms, the lush greens of rolling landscapes and the eternal blue shifts of the ocean. Using a hand-propelled knitting loom and a selection of over 1700 cones of thread, I create fabrications with 3 or 4 strands of thread at a time, changing colors systematically throughout each process. There is no limit to the range of coloration possibilities, making every article of clothing unique. Each one is luxurious to the touch and opulent but not overstated, yet my designs offer everyday wearability. The finishing touches include hand-sewn seams and crocheted edges.
Wearable Art was my earliest inclination with a kimono shape as the recurring design inspiration. Jackets, dresses, tunics, pullovers, shawls and scarves are additional shapes added over time. Beginning in January 2022, I began creating a series of Meditative Screens, 26” X 48” that can hang on a wall or drop from a ceiling. These screens are evocative colorations that are inspired by a specific location or a vision remembered from experiences in my lifetime.
Influences include the designs of Issey Miyake and Missoni along with the art of Sonia Delaunay. Color inspiration is always present, especially when taken from nature. Artists from the Luminist Movement (Frederick Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt), the Impressionists (Henri Matisse, Claude Monet), and Modernists (Mark Rothko, Paul Jenkins) have had a major effect on my evolving color sense. Josef Albers, Interaction of Color, is a consistent and constant reference source.
A departure from wearables in 2008, was a commissioned 12' x 22' ceiling created for the lobby in a restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey. Made from 275 colors of thread and depicting a sunset seen from a plane, it has been, to date, my Magnum Opus.
