CATHY JACOBS & MIN VAN DER PLUS
EXPERIMENTAL TEXTURES.
Born in Michigan, Cathy Jacobs is an artist who weaves. Her textile artworks are abstract expressions of her inner world – capturing the constant tension between control and freedom. This tension plays out in the combination of the deliberate strokes and deliberate stitches of the artist, but also the expressions of feeling and free forms that inescapably work their way into the pieces.
Aqua Song | Cathy Jacobs
Work from two of Jacobs’s collections is exhibited in the Cluster online exhibition and shop. These two collections, one very geometric and ordered while the other is very organic and seemingly chaotic, highlight the contradictions of being that Jacobs explores through her work. The mixture within each of us of structure and subversion.
”One I call Dimensional Weavings,” explains Jacobs. “Handwoven on a large floor loom, these layered semi-transparent wall-hangings are the primary focus of my practice. The second collection I call Handloom Tapestries. These are like small stream-of-conscious drawings made with linen yarn and woven on a little lap loom.”
Midwestern Spring | Cathy Jacobs
The second collection, Handloom Tapestries, began during the restrictions of Covid-19 when Jacobs couldn't access her usual studio. The tapestries are formed of spontaneous lines drawn with needles in yarn and are rather different from her normal work. She named each piece only after they were fully formed.
“For me, there has to be an element of surprise. I don’t like to know the outcome of a piece until it is finished. For woven dimensional works, I will begin with an abstract idea for colours, often unconsciously inspired by nature around me,” she explains. “I never know what the piece will really look like until I hang it on the wall. Even then, I might change the order of my panels around, even re-weave panels until I think the final piece seems finished.”
Celebration | Cathy Jacobs
White collects sand, stones and dirt from the immediate area around her studio and embeds them into her pieces. The conversation between artist, landscape and materials continues throughout the building and firing phases – capturing in the unpredictable result the memories of the process and place that birthed each piece. The process requires courage and faith in the materials’ ability to review their own natures.
“My process is intentional, but my works are emergent,” she explains. “I chose experimental methods because they help me to realise my conceptual ambitions.
Eddies | Cathy Jacobs
The tapestries are semi-transparent, the layers of yarn creating a wavy pattern that changes as the distance of the viewer from the piece changes. It captures the imagination and creates a moment of pause.
Also working with textiles in a highly unusual way is artist Min Van Der Plus. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Van Der Plus has been based in The Netherlands since she finished her studies in sculptural art.
Her work is inspired by geological formation, erosion and transformational nature of time. The pieces in the Cluster collection are part of a project titled Follies.
Follie Blue | Min Van Der Plus
YOU CAN BUY CATHY JACOBS’ PIECES THROUGH OUR ONLINE SHOP
Just as Jacobs captures tensions and dichotomies in her work, Van Der Plus also searches for balance and contrast, for a sense of strength and fragility. Her primary interest in art and design has always been capturing the clash between human life and natural materials.
“Tiny cracks on street bricks, small ruined parts from the buildings, all those quiet and domestic ‘abnormal’ events happen in everyday life,” she explains. “I call them ‘Domestic Ruins’. My project ‘Follies-and yet we still go on’ is a celebration of those small, easily forgettable, neglected things in this world.”
Van Der Plus attempts to mimic these domestic ruins, details of decay and damage from the streets of the city, in textile and resin – layering the materials as she creates them. The two contrasting textures come together in an intriguing way.
“It’s difficult to explain but I like to deal with very different materiality that makes me to use my sensitivity and play around (sometimes struggle) with how to combine these clashing characteristics in harmonious way.”
Her works are modernised textile folly that functions as both interior product and a monument for neglected parts of city life. It is inspired by everyday “abnormal” events that happen in “normal” life, such as tiny cracks on street bricks, small ruined parts from the buildings, ripped-apart wallpapers and so on.
Those small, easily forgettable broken architectural elements have been translated into follies, impersonations of real ruin that also act as decorative pieces. Van Der Plus hopes they remind us of imperfection and mortality of human being.
Follie Grey Peach | Min Van Der Plus
Follie Bright Red | Min Van Der Plus
“We accept our incompleteness, and we go on.”
Van Der Plus hopes that anyone viewing her work is reminded of the beauty in their daily surroundings, as if they are looking at a behind-the-scenes of life.
“It is usually covered, but when it’s ripped apart you see the layers of raw materials that you didn’t realise were there. It’s about appreciation and awareness that I want to keep inside me as long as possible.”
The works of both Cathy Jacobs and Min Van Der Plus are available to view and to purchase on our online Cluster Crafts exhibition and through the Cluster store.
Thank you for reading,
Katie De Klee & Cluster Team.