Tokonoma [A Japanese niche or alcove] Commission

by Tim Harding, September 2022

I did a commissioned textile art wall piece for Linda & Jack Hoeschler about 16 years ago. At that time I worked primarily with Linda on the project. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do a piece for them, knowing a little of their involvement with the Minnesota Composer's Forum and commissioning pieces by local composers.

When I first visited their home to see the wall where my piece would hang and its surroundings it cemented my sense of opportunity to know these art patrons and be given a chance to create a piece to be part of their environment: the handsome Ralph Rapson house, George Nakashima furniture, the eclectic, wide ranging art collection, and of course the amazing Japanese gardens. Jack was very busy, as usual, but hedid pop in to voice his opinion on the input I was getting from Linda. His comments were brief, to the point, and insightful.

That's how I came to think of Jack.

Along with the thoughtful input, they gave me full autonomy to create a piece I thought would suit their space. In the end I was very pleased. Developing it launched me off into a new tangent with my work. They were pleased, too, and whenever we crossed paths over the next several years Linda always graciously told me how much they enjoyed the addition to their collection.

Then, during the pandemic Linda contacted me about a new project. Their living room had a tokonoma, a Japanese niche or alcove.

A focal point in the room, a tokonoma was traditionally used to display special art objects. Perfectly fitting for that space, they had a set of Japanese scrolls they would rotate installing in the space. But, as Linda said, they had been there a long time and were "tired out" and needed to be replaced with something new and fresh. They wanted me to create a set of textile art wall hangings representing the four seasons.

This process started with a studio visit. The first thing they asked was what was my newest work, what I'm most excited about. I showed them those things, they asked insightful questions, soaked it all in, and gave me their initial reactions, then left it to me to make a proposal based on that meeting. I followed up with a site visit to see how certain textures would look in the tokonoma and its dedicated lighting. Then after a little further conversation I made a proposal for the four pieces.

Commissions often require a leap of faith. In this case I was encouraged to try some things I hadn't done before. I made several test pieces and shared some of the work-in-progress images with them. I was able to create four new pieces that pushed the boundaries, while maintaining some signature elements of my work.

I was truly pleased to have the opportunity to work with Linda and Jack again. 18 years ago we were acquaintances. They'd stop by my booth at the American Craft Council Shows to chat. Then they became clients with that first commission, then friends, then clients again, then dear friends. I think that's not an uncommon progression for the Hoeschlers and their artists.

Each of these seasonal pieces incorporates some sheer, almost transparent elements and were designed to be hung in the tokonoma space suspended an inch or so out from the back wall. You can partially see through the piece to the wall, so they appear to float, suggesting the shimmering reflections and refractions of light on water, or in the case of the winter piece, frost. This installation approach also enhances the subtle illusion of depth and movement in each of these pieces.

Summer:
This piece was a new twist on an ongoing body of work, using layered silk reverse applique stitched construction with a sheer base layer resulting in a shimmering palette of rich, summer garden colors.

Autumn:
This too, was a layered reverse applique, but incorporated a linear graphic undulating wave pattern in opaque autumn palette silks on a sheer base, emphasizing that sense of movement and depth.

Winter:
This was an entirely new technique for me, using a highly stylized graphic photo of snow on branches silkscreen printed in white on a base layer of pale blue. The same image was printed with white on a sheer white organza overlay, so one can see into an intermingling of frost-like elements.

This was one that I proposed based on Jack's interest in some of my large silk screen stencil frames he noticed on the studio visit.

Spring:
This one was also a very new development in my work and required numerous prototypes. It is extremely minimalist, with a sheer applique element of the tiny circle waves that occur when raindrops hit a smooth surface of water. The sheer splash figures on a sheer base all in soft, pale spring colors results in a very atmospheric, ephemeral presence.

Textile Arts