Part of the house was built in the nineteenth century; it is a series of low stucco
buildings with dark tiled floors surrounding
a central garden and swimming pool on
three quarters of an acre. The main house
possesses a grand central patio where
we listened to records and gossiped. Beyond the patio, inside the house, was the
dining room, a long, white-washed room,
hung at one end with a silk and wool abstract weaving, in tones of wheat and gold,
by Jim Bassler. I recall this weaving as a
series of tubular forms with long jagged
lacunae between them. The term "fiber
artist," as opposed to "weaver" gained
currency in craft circles in the 1970s and
this work was indeed fibrous, yet at the
same time elegant rather than craft-like.
In writing this article I have had the pleasure of revisiting, through the photographs
shown here, a selection of Jim Bassler's
work, from the early 1970s to the present. His work, consistently across time,
is remarkable for its pungency of color,
colors orchestrated, however, with such
great subtlety that they are never jarring.
My favorite piece happens also to be the
earliest, and one he created while living
in Oaxaca: the Ikat of 1975, which was
exhibited by Jack Lenor Larsen in a travHYLAND
Jim Bassler, Chüeco
35" x 32" hemp, silk,
alpaca, natural dyes,
shibori; 2007
