The Color Field
After nearly a decade of deeply engaged advocacy work—addressing the legacy of Executive Order 9066 and the wildLIFE Project—Maruyama felt a need to step back from the emotional weight of those projects and turn toward a different kind of exploration.
An invitation to participate in an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus presented both an opportunity and a challenge. Centered on furniture design, the exhibition called attention to a tradition Maruyama had long resisted, finding much of its aesthetic language too rigid and austere. Instead, she looked to Anni Albers, whose work offered a more tactile and expansive interpretation of Bauhaus ideals.
At the Bauhaus, Albers was among the many women steered away from disciplines like metalwork and into the weaving workshop, where she transformed constraint into innovation—elevating textiles through her sophisticated use of pattern, structure, and color. Maruyama found resonance in this history, recognizing a parallel in the ways materials and practices are often shaped by cultural expectations.
Drawing from this influence, Maruyama began incorporating tambour techniques—traditionally used in roll-top doors—to construct what she describes as “wooden weavings.” These works translate the logic of textiles into wood, softening structure through rhythm, repetition, and movement.
