There's been some lively discussion in the tapestry world recently around the newest exhibit sponsored by the American Tapestry Alliance, Beyond: Tapestry Expanded. It's on view through December 8, 2024 at the Peeler Art Center at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Since many of us will likely not find ourselves in Greencastle this fall, ordering the catalog for the show is the best bet for seeing the selected work. (Allow a few weeks for ATA's dedicated volunteers to respond to all the orders coming in.) In this post I want to share some of what I found inspiring in the catalog of the exhibit.
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| Cover the catalog for Beyond: Tapestry Expanded exhibit |
The catalog is beautifully produced, with full-color good-sized images of each work. I spent some very enjoyable hours over the weekend poring over it and reading the essays. What I saw has inspired me to think of new technical approaches in my own work, and also to sharpen my work's conceptual intent. Beyond: Tapestry Expanded is one of the most exciting textile shows I've looked at in a long time. I urge everyone with an interest in tapestry and contemporary fiber art to buy a copy.
Full disclosure: I was a member of the board that decided to launch this exhibit, back in 2022. I was in favor of the idea then, and I remain convinced it's a good way to implement the second part of ATA's tagline: honoring tradition, inspiring innovation.
Here are a few images that resonated with me, scanned from the catalog, and some thoughts about them.
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| Hope Wang, birdsong lanced by the power washer roar, 2023. hand-painted cotton and wool, 85" x 63" |
Of course, given my current obsession with birds, Wang had me at "birdsong." The blurred color fields at the top, possibly made with an ikat-type technique, suggest the sound waves of birdsong, as the loopy blue lines may indicate birds' flight. Straight yellow lines on a black field at the bottom remind me of a paved road, which could relate to the "power washer's roar" of the title. We see the machinery of contemporary urban or suburban life obliterating the sound of birdsong. The lines in this piece interact in a lively way that feels contemporary: woven lines don't quite match, the bottom edge is irregular, loose fringe and threads on the side soften the straight edges. This piece does what we hope any woven tapestry would do: it shows how color and woven structure can merge to create imagery impossible by any other means.
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| Jacobo Alonso, Intercorporeality X, 2023. laser cut module of recovered X-rays, 300 x 200 x 1 cm |
This piece is typical of many in the Beyond exhibit: it uses unexpected materials that carry much of the meaning. At first glance this design recalls southwestern woven rugs, but then we see the title, referring to the body and the inter-relationships of bodies. We realize the piece is made from x-rays, and this prompts thoughts about imagery, history and cloth as they relate to the human body and to cultural groups. While the piece is not made of fibrous materials, it drapes as a textile does and references textile patterns and history.
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| Delaina Doshi, Reconciled, 2023, shards of over 150 broken plates, gold wire, 70" x 55" |
This piece, likewise, is not a woven structure, but it hangs like a textile and has a lacy appearance overall. The strong domestic associations of pastel-colored decorative china also tie it to the feminine, domestic arts associations textiles have historically carried. This china is broken, though, broken and wired back together with a precious-sounding material. For me, it prompts thoughts about the breakages, mendings and re-linkings that can occur in families.
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| Olivia Valentine, Guestroom at the Drake, left panel, 2012, handwoven bobbin lace, 72" x 111" overall |
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| Olivia Valentine, Guestroom at the Drake, right panel, 2012, handwoven bobbin lace, 72" x 111" overall |
These two panels are presented side by side in the catalog. While this is not a structure woven on a loom, bobbin lace is made by crossing and interlacing many individual threads according to a pre-determined pattern. The artist used considerable skill to mimic the hard planes of architecture in soft, pliable lace. The typically small, delicate and decorative is rendered here as monumental. The title, and the intriguing choice to leave one window unfinished, bobbins dangling, invites us to invent a narrative about the person or people looking out the windows of a hotel room ("the Drake"). The sheer number of bobbins and the fineness of the lace structure are perhaps an indication of the time and labor involved in constructing any view, or any relationship.
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| Bryana Bibbs, Numb, 2023, handwoven cotton, handcarded handspun wool, 72" x 78" |
At first glance this is the most tapestry-like of many of the pieces in the exhibit, being made of cellulose yarn in a dense woven structure. But its wild texture, non-representational imagery, and reference to the intense labor involved in hand-carding, hand-spinning and hand-weaving indicate something deeper may be at play. The title Numb invites us to speculate what that meaning could be.
I invite you to order a copy of the Beyond: Tapestry Expanded catalog and spend some time with it. These works reveal themselves slowly. Take time with them. As you look at the work and read the essays, set aside for the moment traditional definitions of "tapestry" and see if these works can speak to you. You might ask yourself, Why are these fiber artists breaking the rules? Why are they
using non-fiber materials, intentionally loose techniques, mixing fiber
disciplines that have historically been distinct? Artists make these
choices deliberately, to convey specific concepts and emotions. What you see and feel will no doubt be different from what I see, and that is part of the magic of good art: it invites multiple interpretations.
Have you ever had the experience of stumbling on a new-to-you tapestry technique and thinking for one giddy moment, "I just invented something new!" I remember thinking that when I realized I could weave pick-and-pick in wedge weave. I soon found out, of course, that it had been done by weavers long before me, who called it "coal-mining." It behooves all of us to be familiar not only with the work that has been done before us, but also the work being done in the wider fiber context now.