Compostela

With its accordion-like form and light/dark color scheme, Compostela shares affinities with other works Adela Akers made during this period in her career, all of which kept step with the artist’s persistent interest in occupying space and allowing her textile creations to reach beyond the walls from which they hang. Another recurring theme in Akers’s work is a concern for and attention to the environment, present in Compostela with its gesture to northwestern Spain’s rainy climate. For decades, Akers has also demonstrated a predilection for geometric, linear motifs which she attributes to her long-term fascination with Central African Mbuti bark cloths, as well as the pottery and textile designs of the Shipibo of the Peruvian Upper Amazon. However, the scale of Compostela makes it stand out among Akers’s oeuvre as one of the largest works she ever created.