While you are at home, we’d love to share our current exhibit:
Helena Hernmarck: Shadow and Light
Helena Hernmarck is a Swedish-born tapestry artist and weaver best known for her monumental tapestries designed for architectural settings. Her designs derive from sources ranging from photographs, to watercolors, to handwritten letters, and even from the texture of wool itself. She has supported Swedish textile arts throughout her career, collaborating with Swedish spinners, dyers, and weavers on each commission. Helena’s work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and other institutions.
The tapestry shown here is 1652-Traces of Care, 60 in. x 90 in., wool, linen, cotton. This piece will remain in the Society’s permanent collection.
Helena explains: “As I was visiting with Bill and Elizabeth Pedersen and was shown what they were planning to create at The History Center, Bill brought up the idea that he could design a wall specifically for one of my tapestries, to belong in The Center’s permanent collection. Because of the generosity that they had shown to give Shelter Island this renewed center, I decided I would give the tapestry as well.
Choosing the design wasn’t hard because the Historical Society actually has this document from 1652 in their collection. They had taken care of it for hundreds of years. I was very moved by that and that’s why this tapestry is also called 1652 – Traces of Care. What I’ve woven is not just the document, but also how the document has been cared for over the years. I made a big point of showing how the document was carefully taped together at a later date. When the document was originally folded, this is the side that you can see.”
www.shelterislandhistorical.org
