Tawney created Little River for Wall Hangings, a 1969 MoMA exhibition showcasing the work of preeminent contemporary fiber artists. The free-hanging display emphasizes its three-dimensionality and highlights the contrast between solid and void in the weaving’s construction. Tawney's use of the open-warp technique, which leaves vertical slits in the weave (disrupting the concept of a textile as a flat and continuously woven surface), was influenced in part by her study of gauzy pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles. The linear quality of this and many of her weavings reflects Tawney’s early training in drawing, a practice she maintained after adopting fiber as her primary medium.
Gallery label from Brute Material: Fiber into Form, April 5–September 8, 2013.
The free-hanging display of Little River emphasizes its dimensionality and highlights the contrast between solid and void in its construction. Tawney achieved this effect through her use of the open-warp technique, influenced in part by her study of complex pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles. Little River was included in Wall Hangings, a 1969 MoMA exhibition showcasing the work of preeminent contemporary fiber artists.
Gallery label from Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction, April 19 - August 13, 2017.
