The cover image of our Earth Issue displays an artist standing at her loom, seaside. This loom, a 9 foot circle made of driftwood, warped with plant fiber, and filled with seaweed, pinecones, wool, and cloth donated from her community, is a work of art woven by artist Kirsten Rickert.
Rickert lives in coastal Maine. She is the mother of two daughters and has a practice of making circular landworks from elements of the landscape. This practice is a dialogue with the Earth. It can mark time, seasons, or milestones in her life. The artist also has a practice of year-round ocean swimming, plunging throughout northern Maine’s coldest months.
Tatter asked Rickert to bring this earthwork practice to a frame loom, in an effort to merge textile making with her regular conversation with land. In doing so, the artist was able to lift her practice from the ground and create a metaphor for the ways in which cloth and earth are ever intertwined.
The piece was photographed by Dora Somosi on a wildly windy, spring day in Blue Hill, Maine.
Photograph by Dora Somosi 
Photograph by Dora Somosi