cover image The Pattern Base: Over 550 Contemporary Textile and Surface Designs

The Pattern Base: Over 550 Contemporary Textile and Surface Designs

Kristi O’Meara, edited by Audrey Victoria Keiffer. Thames & Hudson, $35 (368p) ISBN 978-0-5002-9179-5

This collaboration between textile designer O’Meara and several contributing artists is equal parts inspirational guide, reference title, and visual feast. It presents a plethora of textile patterns by a wide range of present-day artists. The book is divided thematically into geometric, florals, representational, digital, abstract, and illustrative, concluding with a section of fabric swatches. Some patterns are conventionally appealing, while others push boundaries, such as Kelly Parsell’s “Rupture” (a representational design repeat in browns and pinks in which images of a girl, a piñata, a tree, and a log all work together to create a weird, beautiful whole) and O’Meara’s own “Quetzalcoatl’s Coat” (a colorful, complex conglomerate of overlapping shapes and textures). The most interesting part of the book profiles 13 contemporary textile designers from around the world. The book, which began as a website, artfully showcases the creative work produced in textile today and serves as a solid resource for aspiring designers. [em](June) [/em]