My tapestry, Displaced: Refugee Blanket has been accepted to the Small Tapestry International 6: Beyond the Edge juried show of the American Tapestry Alliance. I wrote about the piece HERE.
I have so appreciated all the kind words about the work I’ve received thus far. The tapestry takes on a difficult subject. It is never easy to face our humanity and the ways that we are culpable in the displacement of people around the globe.
Rebecca Mezoff, Displaced: Refugee Blanket, 10 x 10 x 5.5 inches, wool & cotton tapestry
I’ve had an interesting question crop up repeatedly and I wanted to talk about it. Many people have asked me if they can see the “whole” tapestry. They mean that they would like to see the work unfolded and they want to know if the juror saw it unfolded when she made her decision.
I understand where this question comes from. We makers are curious people. We want to explore it all. In this case the question may come from a desire to see the technical aspects of the piece or it may come from a broader desire to somehow experience all of it. The fact that I said there were lines and tracks hidden inside the folds of the piece does make us wonder what we can’t see.
The image above is the only one the juror saw. It is how I intended the piece to be seen—folded on a table like a blanket. I do want viewers to walk around it and see it from all sides, but it is not intended to be viewed unfolded. This work is about uncertainty and struggle as well as the way wealthy nations contribute to the suffering of innocent people. That subject matter is full of tension and unseen pain and on some level, maybe we feel that there would be some answers if we saw the inside of the weaving.
So thank you all for the question. May we all learn to live with the unsettling unknown and use it in powerful ways to make the world a better place.
Dates and venues for the show as well as the list of artists selected can be found on the ATA website HERE.