Modern Tapestry - Between art and craft - Petra Marciniak

Fascination Tapestry

Today I want to explore the fascinating world of tapestry weaving!

Like many fibre arts, tapestry still has the reputation of being dusty, old-fashioned and has-been.

I must admit I thought the same only two years ago…

Until I discovered at the first one, then two and then a whole new world of stunning tapestry artists and radically changed my mind.

I explored the long history of this art form and the tension in modern tapestry between art and craft.

Thought this might be really worth to share and hopefully, after this article, you will go hands in hands with me and say: “Tapestry is an incredible, fascinating modern textile art form!”

So here we go, let’s dive together!

1. First things first: What is tapestry?

Tapestry is a specific catégorie of weaving to create images rather than utilitarian fabric:

It’s a plain weave weft-faced technique. Means you cover the warp threads completely so that the image you see is created by the weft alone. In contrast to most other woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads are visible.
In tapestry weaving, weft yarns are normally discontinuous. This means that the weft does not travel from one side of the textile to the other, as in other weaving techniques. Au contrary, weft yarns are bound in small bundles known as butterflies or on tapestry bobbins and are introduced working one shape at a time.
Tapestry is meant in general to create an image, traditionally used for wall-hangings and decoration.
Tapestry weaving is very slow to make. An image can take many months to design and weave. A large piece can even take years. To have an idea: A skilled, professional tapestry weaver who works 35-40 hours a week at the loom, can weave about 1 square meter a month.

” TAPESTRY is a discontinuous weft-faced woven structure that creates image! “

Below a wonderful example from Marion Weymes called “Searching for sunlight”

Tapestry weaving by Marion Weymes _Searching for sunlight

And: True tapestry can only be woven by hand!! Until today it’s impossible to reproduce tapestries by machines, due to its discontinuous structure.

2. A bit of history:

The early states of tapestry are unclear, as actual survivals are very rare. But since the high and late medieval period tapestry started to be the grandest and most expensive medium for figurative images in two dimensions in Europe until at least the end of the 16th century.

In this period tapestries were monumentally sized wall-hangings showing battles, unicorns, bloodied martyr and the courts of kings. Royalty and rich patrons commissioned these large tapestries, which were an opulent way to communicate status and wealth, but also a way to communicate with a largely illiterate populace.

The Bayeux Tapestry

Portability:

One reason for the success of decorative tapestry in this time is explained due to its portability.

Kings could fold up and transport tapestries from one residence to another. In churches, they were displayed on special occasions. Tapestries were also draped on the walls of palaces and castles for insulation during winter, as well as for decorative display. For special ceremonial processions such as coronations, royal entries and weddings, they would sometimes even be displayed outside.

Weavers and artists:

These monumental tapestries were first designed by an artist who generally painted a full-scale cartoon. Afterwards, a group of skilled artisans copied the painting and might work a decade to produce one set of tapestries

The weavers of these tapestries were usually male, as the work was physically demanding; spinning the threads was usually a female preserve.

3. Technical Aspects

Tapestry is woven from bottom to the top, each woven line supports the ones above it. This needs some planning and most tapestry weavers draw until today a cartoon to guide their work.

This cartoon is fixed behind the loom to follow the dessin while weaving or the drawing is copied directly onto the warp threads.

Tapestry by Marion Weymes_Quarantine Blues

Weaving from the front or the back?

You can weave tapestry either from the back or the front.

This might seems weird, at least for me, but traditionally tapestry is woven in fact from the back of the work and the most famous tapestry workshops in the world today weave still everything from the back (see photo below: Les Gobelins in Paris).

The advantage of working from the back is that you don’t get the front side dirty with your hands and some techniques seem to be more difficult from the front.

The drawback is naturally that you can’t see how your work looks from the front, why traditional tapestry weavers often place mirrors on the front side of the loom.

Tapestry weaving _Les Gobelins Paris_weaving from the back side

Tapestry weaving _Les Gobelins à Paris

Today, most independent tapestry artists work nevertheless from the front.

You can see exactly what you’re weaving and your view will not be obscured by tails.

Weaving across in a line versus building up shapes

Another decision to make when beginning a tapestry is if you want to weave one line at a time, covering all the warp across, or if you want to weave one shape at a time.

Historical tapestry has been an art form that created very large images often with multiples weavers sat side by side and wove on the same piece. To accomplish this, they had to weave the area right in front of them, so they wove a shape at a time.

Tapestry weaving_ Les Gobelins Paris

Today it’s a question of preference and some weavers even use both techniques in the same piece.

Which technique you want to use can be dictated by the image you’re creating too. If your image has a lot of horizontal elements with interlocks side to side, it might be better to work line by line. In contrast, if the works are more graphic with distinct shapes, it may be better to weave one shape at a time.

4. Materiel

1. Tapestry Loom

In fact, every device that can hold a set of warp threads with some tension will work as a loom. Nevertheless, there are naturally some looms dedicated especially for tapestry:

simple frame looms
low-warped looms (“basse lice” in french)
high-warped looms (“haute lice” in french)

These terms refer to the orientation of the warp and the way that you weave on the loom. A high-warped loom is one that holds the warp threads in a vertical orientation, while a low-warped loom orients the warps horizontally.

Frame looms:

Most people who want to try tapestry will start with a frame loom. These looms are portable, less expensive, and provide an easy entry into tapestry weaving.

Frame Loom Tapestry Cours with Christabel Balfour

Low-warped looms:

Tapestry weaving on a low-warped loom by Christabel Balfour

High-warped looms:

Weaving on a high-warped loom; Christabel Balfour

2. Other tapestry specific materiel

Bones and bobbins to organize the weft bundles.
Tapestry fork or beater for beating the weft down

3. Yarn:

You can weave with almost anything that is flexible and fibre like.

Warp should be strong enough to withstand the constant abrasion caused by opening the shed and he has to hold a tight tension. Today most tapestry weavers use warps of wool or cotton.

A good weft should be a firm yarn that packs in easily and makes a sturdy fabric. Weft yarn doesn’t have to be as strong as the warp, as it doesn’t have to withstand the tension of the loom. The yarn shouldn’t be too lofty, stretchy or soft for tapestry.

5. Modern tapestry – between art and craft

And today?

I noticed mostly two very different approaches concerning tapestry today:

One one side a few weaving workshops in the world operate still in the manner described in chapter two: an artist designs an image that is afterwards copied by several weavers sitting side by side. Only today they produce mostly modern, unique images which could concurrence every painting largely.

Examples are the Australian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne, the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins in Paris, the Manufactures d’Aubusson and the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh.

On the other side a completely different “contemporary tapestry scene” has been evolving since 1970.

A worldwide shift in what was possible in creative expression was set in motion. Threads freely suspended, coiled or in some manner formed into monumental sculptural forms, took over galleries and expositions. The 1970s were a decade where fibre art called now “New Tapestry,” was on the cutting edge of art.

Josep Grau-Garriga: Tapestries 1970 – 2011

This changed again once entered the 21^st century. Accessible computer-aided weaving options and other “quick” systems for producing artwork, made “slow” tapestry weaving less attractive for young artists. Surprisingly, at the same time that weaving seemed out of favour, fibres had become one of the two most popular majors for art students. Computer savvy young artists expected speedy results and these emerging artists also questioned the notion that art must be made by hand.

This changing perspective though has finally become a motivating factor to question once more the traditional constraints about what techniques are appropriate for tapestry. A new vague of tapestry weavers emerged over the last decade, attracted by the straightforward qualities and simplicity of tapestry weaving.

The pressure to produce large work is lessened today and besides taking less time, small format work lends itself to experimenting and risk-taking. Today the variety of what may be called “tapestry” is broader than ever and several artists developed a very distinguished style, miles away from what most people would qualify as a tapestry.

Summarising, the biggest difference of “modern tapestry” in comparison to “traditional tapestry” might be:

Independent artists discovered and explored tapestry and fibre arts in general as a new medium. Which means that the person who creates the design becomes also the weaver of the finished textile.
The first point leads to the second: the scale of tapestry has changed completely. Pieces become smaller, are produced in less time by a single artist.
The smaller format lends to experimenting and risk-taking. The artists who chose tapestry as their medium developed a broader range of personal expression and styles than the traditional 2-dimensional flat tapestries. They start working with texture, with a variety of different materials and include even sculptural forms and multimedia aspects to give object qualities to their tapestries.