I find pleasure in the act of looking.  I see images, and in these images, I see fragments or ideas, which I want to translate into a tapestry.  Seeking a balance between the conceptual and emotional,  as in life, one or the other will determine the  growth of the tapestry.  The symbollic expression reveals itself through color, line, texture, form, movement and the weight of the yarn. And so, the process begins. An image lingers and then becomes joined to another; color is revealed as a force in life; music is interpreted as spirals or conflicting shapes; proportion of forms instructs order and composition. Meanwhile, a range of emotions is experienced as works are completed and others left undone.

Regarding Trees Talking: I have often lingered upon the concept of trees communicating within themselves, so this notion just had to be interpreted visually and finally as a tapestry.

Regarding Ranunculus: My interest in using photography to focus upon the detail and scope within nature has also resulted in using these images in my work of tapestry.  While I have primarily been influenced by the use of color in weaving, black and white imagery has remained a strong preference, thus I wanted to carry this over into a tapestry.

Regarding Summer in Quincy:  I used my photographic images of a time spent in Quincy worked over with elemental color shapes to give it a dreaming quality of past and present.

Lialia Kuchma was born in Pidhajchi, Ukraine and raised in Chicago, IL, amidst two dissonant cultures: Ukrainian traditions and Chicago reality. While growing up, creativity was always present in her life, and her family encouraged the study of art. She has worked in the disciplines of woodworking, church ornamentation, gold leaf application, printmaking, pottery, photography and calligraphy. Over 30 years ago, when she took a course in weaving, Lialia realized that tapestry was the most fulfilling medium for her.