ArtistHillary Steel
Soul Catchers
Date2015
MediumHand-weaving, Ikat resist dyeing, silk, and rayon
DimensionsEach: 37 x 18 x 1 1/2 in. (94 x 45.7 x 3.8 cm)
Framed Size: 42 x 42 x 4 in. (106.7 x 106.7 x 10.2 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2021.038.1a-b
ClassificationsFiber Arts
Locations
- Office of Risk Management (441 4th Street NW, 840S)
DescriptionCloth touches us, surrounds us, and silently bears witness to our lives. Hillary Steel sees the labor of preparing and dyeing materials, dressing looms, and weaving cloth as a time of contemplation. In the Malaysian ikat technique, she resist dyes her threads to achieve a pattern as she weaves the cloth, so the color and design is integrated into the fabric’s woven structure. She then cuts, folds, and arranges the textile into its final form.
