“Along with cave paintings, threads were among the earliest transmitters of meaning,” Anni Albers wrote in her canonical 1965 tome On Weaving. Considered by many to be the godmother of textile arts, Albers dedicated her book to her “great teachers”—the weavers of ancient Peru. The basic principles of tapestry—typically wall hangings defined by complicated pictorial designs formed by warp-and-weft weaving or embroidery—has not changed for millennia, despite the introduction of power machinery in the late 18th century.
Contemporary artists who have dared to take up the painstaking labor of weaving in the digital age similarly find themselves in dialogue with newly minted historical figures like Albers—who was instrumental in elevating the status of weaving as a fine art—as well as ancient traditions that span the globe.
Across cultures, tapestry has been used for practical, decorative, spiritual, and expressive purposes. The highly developed textile culture of ancient Peru emerged in the absence of a written language. In the Middle East, tapestries were often thought to possess magical properties; think of tales of flying carpet rides. The famously cryptic symbolism of the medieval Unicorn Tapestries has subsumed their practical purpose of keeping drafts out the European castle it once inhabited. In the 20th century, feminist artists employed handcrafts like weaving and embroidery to break down the distinctions between art and craft that typically left women and people of color marginalized as mere “artisans.”
These days, fiber artists have found increasingly receptive audiences, as well as institutions willing to show their work. They employ tapestry to explore politics and the harsh realities of modern conflict, or to tease out questions of identity and sexuality. Many bemoan tapestry’s glacially slow pace and the way it hampers their abilities to be prolific, yet none would trade the hand-made, unique approach. Below, we share insights from seven artists who are continuing to push the boundaries of this traditional medium.
Erin M. Riley
The speed and prosaicness of contemporary female life find eternal stillness and glory in tapestries by Brooklyn-based Erin M. Riley. The artist’s distinctive tattoos appear in woven depictions of her mirror selfies, tweezing nipple hairs, masturbating. The digital sphere is further invoked by Pornhub screenshots and scattered iPhones.
Riley was raised on the internet, and her tapestries reflect her experiences “as a queer human who grew up in chat rooms” as a means of exploring sexuality and trauma. The artist frequently depicts herself in what some might consider compromising or revealing situations to evince “the physical labor and presence of body that it takes to depict them.”
“The images I weave are consumed and scrolled past at a speed that is maddening, but tapestry stays slow,” Riley said. At the same time, the process of sitting at the loom “allows for a total disconnect from the internet while also having a connection to binary and early computer technology.”
The reflective nature of the loom process allows Riley to zoom in on specific details—she often hand-dyes the yarn for each specific object—as a way to slow down the viewer and confront content that might be previously scrolled past.