Crit Week 1: The Sycamore Tapestry

This piece was inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ which was originally published in 1478 as a collection of 24 stories. Since then, his work has proved to be a truly historical piece of literature; Chaucer’s use of realism and satire incorporates themes of both cultivated wit, devout piousness and out-and-out vulgarity that allows us an insight into culture of the period. The essence of Chaucer’s work is in the following of thirty pilgrims that travel from Hampshire to Canterbury in Kent to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket. The characters are from various rankings in medieval society: a knight to a carpenter – a cook to a “much married Wife of Bath’. From this research, I became immersed in medieval art – particularly in tapestries. Historically, tapestries were strictly utilitarian to insulate rooms, however also adopted a decorative purpose – often reserved for the more affluent members of this feudal period.

However, as my research became more comprehensive, I began to realise that the decoration held sentiments of symbolism (often in reference to a person’s religious or social position.) For example, the presents of a bramble bush were often a sign of the fallen state of mankind, sin and even death. Genesis 3:17-19 references such natural symbolism, stating ‘both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you’ when banishing Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. As such, I have selected my own religious symbolism: the sycamore tree in the book Luke (19:4 Zacchaeus climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see the Lord, suggesting strength of faith.)

As such, I incorporated themes of nature and its religious symbolism, of journey and pilgrimage, of decay and the passing of time – of how nature eventually reclaims manmade spaces. However, the juxtaposition of environments was a crucial element of this piece as it disorientated the audience and made them question their environment – of how everything around them was constructed with a purpose and will eventually be reclaimed and returned to the earth. This piece also holds relevance in a contemporary context; Pilgrims way is the historical route that was supposedly taken by the pilgrims when travelling through Surrey to get to Canterbury – which happens to roughly follow the modern A31. Farnham is steeped in historical significance, dating as far back as early settlements in the iron age and right now its rich history and lush woodland is being destroyed by land developments and the demand for natural recourses. I made this piece out of a two-metre canvas, PVA glue and mud and sycamore leaves, sticks and berries; the entire process from start to finish took twelve hours. There were both pros and cons of working with natural materials, particularly as it allowed me to create an authentic representation of the forest floor in autumn, even utilising the scent of wet mud to add another sensory element which I found highly effective as it further worked to disorientate the viewer in their environment. I suspended it from the ceiling to create the illusion that the patch of the ground was floating, further developing this theme of disorientation, giving it a contemporary twist on the traditional presentation of tapestries. However, the use of natural materials also meant that this piece would not last for an extended period of time and was extremely breakable and delicate.

My feedback came Laura Whittam; she felt overly positive about my work, stating that it did meet the aims that I set myself, dealing successfully with space and texture whilst using a variety of materials. She did not see the biblical themes – however, I feel that that that is more an underpinning concept from a piece based on a theocratic society; a viewer could potentially need some brief prior-knowledge of the Middle Ages to understand this theme - but she did get a prevalent sense of journey and history behind it. Laura felt that due to the ageless theme of nature and of time passing, that my work held relevance. Nature is enduring in an ever-spinning cycle, and due to this, my work could be interpreted in different ways resulting in complex, interwoven themes of nature and your physical, spiritual and religious relationship with it. Most notably, Laura praised the scale and placement that helped to create this juxtaposition of environments to disorientate the viewer so that they consciously become aware of their surroundings. Alternatively, she did not like the use of a metal hanging system, suggesting instead invisible wire to further lend to the illusion of a floating tapestry, or to use of more organic material. Originally, it was my intention to use invisible wire, but unfortunately health and safety required that I needed a metal rig to ensure it wouldn’t fall and hurt someone due to its weight.

To improve my work, I consulted my own research, peer feedback and tutors, suggesting that I make an immersive space to make it look like nature is coming in… to some extent, I have already looed at that when I explored ‘The Memory Tree’ project. However, I do love the idea of recreating spaces to disorientate – looking at the Boyle Family in particular for inspiration. However, the biggest criticism was the clear lack of acknowledgment of religious reference… perhaps I could explore more explicit biblical allusion to nature such as the Apple of Eden from the book of Genesis or the Burning Bush in Exodus. I also find the contextual religious conflict of Paganism and Christianity in the Middle Ages (and even how that conflict continues today) a fascinating concept.