It is commonplace for tapestry weavers to be asked (often repeatedly) to substantiate the medium’s status in contemporary art.
Tedious art versus craft debate/ contemporary art versus nanna tapestry kit/ from textiles but not of textiles/ narrative versus concept/ formed as object yet pertaining to image/ technical traditions versus experimentation/ independent practice versus practicing for a production studio.
On one occasion as a production weaver for the then Victorian Tapestry Workshop, a consultant asked the assembled weavers, ‘How can we make tapestry sexy?’ How dare he I thought (the use of sexualised language as a mode of discussing any artwork is unnecessary, unless it is relevant to subject matter of course).
Regressive trajectory/ gender connotations/ female practitioners outnumber male/ disengagement from meaning/ victim status/ inferiority complex/ denial of complexities in intention and process.
I remember feeling at the time as though my art practice outside the workshop was doomed. How could I ever make really great art using tapestry if it is viewed like an ugly duckling that required tarting up?
The practice of being an artist brings with it moments of clarity and moments of doubt regardless of medium. Most often I find it damaging to engage with dialogue about the context of tapestry rather than engaging with dialogue specifically relevant to my practice.
'In the Heat of the Moment' 1998 woven tapestry;
wool, cotton, linen 190 x 150 cm
Collection of Ararat Regional Art Gallery
Purchased with the assistance of the Robert Salzer Foundation, 2008
For me tapestry is: object/ construction from beginning to end/ shaping the surface/ creating links in meaning through the subtleties of sequence and series/ colour/ pattern/ ornamentation and void space/ rhythm, repetition and pixel/ cloth and fashion (thanks Mr Lagerfeld)/ architecture and design/ the hard mark of a hachure and stepping disappearing in the surface whilst a soft mark retains weight vice versa/ drawing on the loom for most often I don’t use a cartoon/ sometimes abstract, sometimes image based narrative/ always referring to research and ideas/ an extension and result of many processes - drawing, printing, painting, collage, stitching, sewing, knitting, writing, reading/ understanding and using a complex technical tradition whilst trying to break the rules/ bringing oddities to life/ a tool with which to view the world/ being a flâneur, a geologist, a botanist, a naturalist, a twitcher, a wilderness guide, a collector, a collaborator/ many years of persistence/ always on my mind and always about conversations with Kate Derum and Rachel Hine.
I have had a diversity of experiences with the medium of tapestry since completing my undergraduate degree. I have worked for the Australian Tapestry Workshop and West Dean on the Hunt for the Unicorn series, had solo exhibitions, been in group shows, undertaken residencies, collaborated with Rachel, taught tapestry at Monash University and recently been awarded a scholarship to complete a masters degree of design at COFA (thank you!). All this considered, I have come to understand tapestry and my practice because of those conversations I had with Kate. I will be forever grateful for the ineffable way in which she taught and the way she observed the world; her passing was the loss of my greatest mentor and a monumental loss to the field.
Hilary Green
July 2010
These three short essays from practising studio tapestry artists are presented under the heading ‘Reflections from the Field’ in the exhibition catalogue, ‘About Time: Australian Studio Tapestry 1975-2005’. ‘About Time’ is an Ararat Regional Art Gallery touring exhibition presented at the following Victorian public galleries:
Ararat Regional Art Gallery - 12 August – 26 September 2010
Horsham Regional Art Gallery - 22 January to 6 March 2011
Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery - 1 July to 14 August 2011
Central Goldfields Art Gallery, Maryborough - 4 September to 9 October 2011
