Sarah Rosalena's 27ft tapestry for LACMA blends Indigenous weaving with satellite imagery.
Sarah Rosalena has completed a stunning 27-foot tapestry for the David Geffen Galleries at LACMA, titled 'Threading the Boundless: Omnidirectional Terrain' (2025). As an associate professor at UC Santa Barbara, she combines traditional Wixárika weaving with cutting-edge digital methods. Drawing inspiration from her grandfather's work at LA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and her family's weaving heritage, Rosalena critiques colonial mapping and resource extraction. This tapestry transforms computer-generated satellite imagery of Mars and Earth into unique handwoven designs, using an industrial jacquard-rapier loom with over 12,000 warp threads. Rosalena views her creation as a tribute to Los Angeles, highlighting its cultural richness and her roots, while also challenging existing divisions between craft, technology, and narratives of the past and future.
Key facts
- Sarah Rosalena created a 27ft tapestry for LACMA's permanent collection
- The work is titled 'Threading the Boundless: Omnidirectional Terrain' (2025)
- Rosalena is an associate professor at University of California, Santa Barbara
- She combines Wixárika weaving traditions with satellite imagery of Mars and Earth
- The tapestry uses over 12,000 warp threads on an industrial jacquard-rapier loom
- Rosalena received LACMA's Art + Technology Lab grant in 2019
- Her grandfather worked at LA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- The piece is described as a 'love letter to Los Angeles'
Entities
Artists
- Sarah Rosalena
Institutions
- LACMA
- David Geffen Galleries
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Art + Technology Lab
- The Art Newspaper
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- Santa Barbara
- Mars
- Earth
- Southwest