Jilly Edwards: Tapestry into the 21st Century The speed of living and working in the developed world has moved from fast to super fast; information is available to and demanded from us at the touch of a button and we are in constant communication with others for both work and social activity. Inquisitiveness is an essential prerequisite for both the enjoyment and success of our lives. Tapestry weaving is in many ways the antithesis; a slow process, intricate and time consuming; every decision requires methodical physical action over hours not minutes. There are no shortcuts, no mechanical or electronic gizmos: tapestry artists usually work alone. Inquisitiveness is essential to the weaver too, but answers are yielded slowly, and the skills required, though simple at the start, become increasingly exacting as the process seduces the artist into making ever greater demands of themselves, their time and the medium; weaving becomes an all consuming passion. Hardly surprising then that tapestry has all but disappeared as a medium of choice for younger artists. Lack of time and the growing possibilities of the virtual world have made the tactile world around us shrink. The eye, now so familiar with looking at a screen prefers clean polished surfaces and dust free environments. Though the examination of this medium of tapestry could yield fascinating insights and ideas that relate to structure and time in a much more conceptual and contemporary way, the medium’s history has been too strongly linked to painting and the pictorial, which makes such developments unlikely. Of course tapestry is visual, but it is not just an image, there is very much more to it than that.
Samplers (3 reels), 2009 (detail) Cotton warp. Wool, cotton, linen weft. On steel powder. coated box. 3cm x 200cm
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