Textiles do have the power to evoke an emotional response that may be induced by different elements - from a texture to a memory attached to them. These experiences embodied in textiles are usually released through wearing or touching a piece, but in Jan Koen Lomans' practice textiles assume and release new and higher meanings. Textiles give the Utrecht-based artist the chance to take his drawings, etchings and ideas to a new level, turning them into a tangible reality with a well-defined physicality.
Behind the technique there is indeed something more: Lomans hints at transience and at the stages between life and death in his fragile lasered polyester fabric pieces that evoke Alberto Burri's combustions; tufted abstract lines point towards landscapes, clouds, the earth and the sky, while Lomans suggests viewers that yarns can be used to paint and that new states of experimentation can be reached when you do so.
Craftsmanship and innovation are key words in Lomans' works, so far exhibited in various institutions and galleries including the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Central Museum in Utrecht.
His pieces are indeed the result of long qualitative researches carried out at the TextielMuseum's TextielLab in Tilburg, where this December visitors will have the unique chance to closely discover his art.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
Jan Koen Lomans: I studied at the School of Fine Art and Design, St. Joost in Breda and Den Bosch in The Netherlands, getting my BA there. I have been working for around 8 years now under my own name and last year I started also Studio JKL, a platform for collaborative projects.
When did you develop an interest in textiles and what fascinates you about textiles in general?
Jan Koen Lomans: I find absolutely fascinating trying to figure out how a technique works or how I can redevelop it. Textiles are for me a vehicle for my art. The starting point for my work is therefore always a drawing, etching or an idea in my mind, then I try and translate it to different textile techniques, so that I can turn the narrative behind the original idea into something tangible. Viewers can therefore grasp in an easier way the story behind my piece while also enjoy its tactile or three-dimensional quality. Textiles have got an almost architectural quality about them, but they are also very warm and their depth is also fascinating because you can play with layers and create something amazing. I also find extremely interesting the fact that architecture is turning to textiles at the moment, maybe this is happening because we have used hard materials such as concrete and glass to build bunker-like structures and now we are looking for elements that can offer us a sense of warmth and coziness as well.
Would you consider yourself as a textile artist and what inspires you?
Jan Koen Lomans: I'm a visual artist working with textiles. As I said, I've been working for 8 years in this field and at the beginning it was hard for people to understand what I was doing and I had to fight quite a few stereotypes, especially because when you work with textiles they tend to pigeonhole you in a box labelled with "Textile Artist". But I do see my practice as something wider that defies classification, and includes collaborations and dialogues with companies, laboratories, workshops and so on. I do indeed feel that in the next 20 years the key to innovation will be in communicating together, it doesn't matter in which discipline, as everything will be mixed up, but the most important thing will be to find connections and work together. This is also why I started Studio JKL. There are two things that inspire me: other people - for example somebody working in the design and architecture fields - and their working methods, and the techniques they use or the new ways they produce their work. If I see a technique I like, I'm willing to explore it a bit better and transform it into something I need.
How did you rediscover tufting, a technique usually employed more in carpet and rug making?
Jan Koen Lomans: I've been working at the TextielLab at the TextielMuseum in Tilburg for roughly 9 years. I go there to do my researches and experiment. Every time I went I could see beautiful textile pieces, but I often found myself torn between the back and front of a design. Sometimes I liked more the back than the front, because you can still see fascinating lines and motifs on the back. I started thinking about reworking the tufting techniques in 2010, and talked to Karen Zeedijk who makes my tufting work. I eventually got a grant from the Mondrian Fund and I began a research project that lasted 2 years to figure how to tuft from both sides, to get the negative and positive side and a "no beginning/no end" effect that gave the piece a sort of cyclical mood about it. I felt that giant pieces made with tufting allowed me to communicate a lot and reach out to the visitors. The first pieces produced were showcased in 2012 in an art exhibition at the Museum Oud Amelisweerd, in a renovated 18th century country house.
Which were the biggest challenges of using tufting for art installations?
Jan Koen Lomans: Karen Zeedijk had to figure out how she could tuft both sides. That was an issue and the main problem was that we wanted a white polyester pattern and not the more common grey ones that gave a dull shades to the main colours of the installation. We eventually found a company in Germany that had the white patterns, more favoured in Arabic countries. The second challenge was figuring out which materials worked and which didn't as we wanted to experiment with mohair, polyester and thick lurex, materials that are not normally used in tufting. We now have a database of all these yarns and materials that work and that do not work.
You developed your work at the TextielLab of the TextielMuseum, what is it like working there?
Jan Koen Lomans: Since I've been working there for several years now, it has become a bit of a home for me. It is amazing to be surrounded by professionals who approach your suggestions and experimental ideas with a terrifically positive attitude. They never say no, but always try and find a solution, so it's a very positive way of working. Sometimes just walking and looking around can get you inspired and lead you to employ other techniques. I remember that seeing a while back a lasering project they were doing for the Fashion Academy in Antwerp. That led me to burn away fabrics in an experimental process. The results were beautiful, so I made an appointment and, in 2008, I started applying melting processes to fabric. Now I'm making melted paintings that at times include seven layers of fabric.
There is a lot of talk at the moment about smart textiles - do you feel that new technologies will help us developing genuinely innovative ideas and solutions and would you like to incorporate them into your pieces?
Jan Koen Lomans: I think textiles will be a very interesting medium in future. Two years ago I started developing a project with smart textiles at Philips Innovation as I wanted to know if it was possible to use thick fabric, like thick jacquards, to make a light installation. I made some weaving patterns with mohair and polyester that allows you to get a three-dimensional feel about it and create something beautiful and soft at the same time. It's great how you can use sensors nowadays and combine light and tapestry to provide a message and a context. This is extremely important for me as telling a story through textiles remains my priority.
Can you tell us more about the exhibition you're working on at the moment and the event at the TextielLab in December?
Jan Koen Lomans: I have an exhibition at the KersGallery in Amsterdam (until 14th December 2014) called "Garden Rhythm", featuring Niels Broszat, Marc Mulders and myself and including pieces made with different techniques. The "Garden Rhythm" theme is about the cadence of the day and night rhythms and the changing light, so the works included go from blue and gold to white; at the back of the gallery, the night is represented by Mark's painted glass. The event at the TextielLab will instead offer the possibility to visitors to walk around the spaces and discover various techniques and the artists that used them during this past year. There will be samples of my work, plus images and texts, so that people will be able to learn more and understand better my pieces.
Will you be developing any special projects in 2015?
Jan Koen Lomans: I'm interested in working with different companies and creative people through the Studio JKL platform. In February the Tapestry Chair I developed with Jeroen Wesselink's studio will be at Object Rotterdam and I hope I'll be able to take it also to Milan Design Week.
Image credits for this post
1. Detail of Transitory Landscape by Jan Koen Lomans. Photograph by Chantal Ehrhardt.
2. Detail of melted painting by Jan Koen Lomans.
3. Tufted installation by Jan Koen Lomans, Museum Oud Amelisweerd.
4. Detail of tufted installation by Jan Koen Lomans, Museum Oud Amelisweerd.
5. Transitory Landscape by Jan Koen Lomans. Photograph by Chantal Ehrhardt.
6. Tufting in progress. Karen Zeedijk working at the TextielLab, TextielMuseum, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Photo by Jan Koen Lomans.
7. Tapestry by Jan Koen Lomans, Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort. Photography by Peter Cox.
8. Melted painting by Jan Koen Lomans. Photograph by Peter Cox.
9. A melted painting by Jan Koen Lomans at the "Garden Rhythm" exhibition, KersGallery, Amsterdam.
10. Tapestry Chair, 2014, Edition 5. Frame: Wenge. Woven tapestry: Bio cotton, Cash wool, Elirex, Mohair and Thick Lurex. Collaboration project of Studio JKL together with Jeroen Wesselink Vormgeving. Photograph by Chantal Ehrhardt.
11. Tapestry Chair, 2014, Edition 5. Frame: Wenge. Woven tapestry: Bio cotton, Cash wool, Elirex, Mohair and Thick Lurex. Collaboration project of Studio JKL together with Jeroen Wesselink Vormgeving. Photograph by Chantal Ehrhardt.
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