Woven by Rosilda López, Claudia Alarcón. Comunidad La Puntana, Santa Victoria Este, Salta

For their first exhibition at Cecilia Brunson Projects, Alarcón designed a series of abstract pieces, produced by members of Silät, which explore the changeability of nature. Based on times of the day or seasons, they refer more to colour and atmosphere than to anything material. Exploiting the textural intricacies and earthy colours of chaguar yarn, there is an ever-changing interplay between the open weave and the environment, the richness of the natural dyes modulating as we move around the works and as the light changes.

The taught visual language of symbols and geometric patterns in this textile tradition provide a ground for these images, but bend to the forms of pure colour that spill across the works and animate them, like rushes of water, shards of light or a sudden breeze. These forms break the pattern as if the weaver is led astray by wandering thoughts, or overcome by a sudden change in their surroundings. There is something of the spontaneity of gestural abstract painting, here achieved in a medium reliant on calculation and slow, deliberate processes. They speak to the value placed on intuition by these artists, and a proximity between weaving and thinking.