Loom bands once filled living rooms and YouTube tutorials, as kids twisted the small, colorful rubber loops into bracelets and elaborate projects. While the fad ebbed, artist Hannah Beuchler has transformed the humble material into the backbone of a striking body of work that reads, at first glance, like expressionist painting. What looks like gestural brushwork and finely tuned color turns out, on close inspection, to be thousands of loom bands building vibrant relief across the surface.
Beuchler draws on an interest in fabrics and the mark-making techniques of the Impressionists, pushing the boundaries of textiles through found and recycled materials. Her pieces often probe the relationship between natural and synthetic media. Working from a felt template that also serves as the substrate, she loops the bands onto small tufts of colorful wool roving. These soft, malleable segments can be curved and nestled together into virtually any shape, assembled almost like a puzzle. The finished works retain a textile-like pliability, yet, when framed and hung, they assume the character of a painting.
Materials, method, and scale
Beuchler’s recent works underscore the range of her approach, from intimate to commanding formats, all framed and photographed by Spencer Higgins:
- “Warm Foothills” (2025), loom bands, wool, and felt, framed, 32 x 36 inches. Photo by Spencer Higgins.
- “Frozen Realm” (2025), loom bands, wool, and felt, framed, 74 x 47.85 x 2 inches. Photo by Spencer Higgins.
- “The Space Between” (2024), loom bands, wool, and felt, framed, 77 x 72.5 x 2 inches. Photo by Spencer Higgins.
- “Fountains” (2025), rubber loom bands, wool, and felt, framed, 48 x 44.5 x 2 inches. Photo by Spencer Higgins.
- “Black Sheep” (2025), loom bands, wool, and felt, framed, 26.75 x 19.75 inches. Photo by Spencer Higgins.
- “Don’t Push” (2025), loom bands, wool, and felt, framed, 52.5 x 34.5 x 2 inches. Photo by Spencer Higgins.
Across these pieces, the interplay of wool and rubber generates an unusual surface—tactile, pliant, and insistently optical. The loom bands build color into layered strokes and arcs, while the felt substrate anchors each segment, allowing the compositions to cohere as wall-mounted reliefs that still carry the softness of textiles.
For additional views and details, including close-ups of the tufted surfaces and banded textures, more of Beuchler’s work appears on Instagram. The article was published on September 10, 2026.
