This tapestry was inspired by the medieval tapestries I saw during my travels as a Winston Churchill Fellow and the medieval frescos I saw in Bulgaria. Many I saw depicted various Marys weeping over Christ but it occurred to me one would not be caught weeping in front of the murderers of one’s loved one, but as an accuser one would look back with dignity and a spine of oak. The idea had a personal resonance with me and this is the result, I as the weaver, and also a Mary (my middle name) gets to look out through them. The medieval images are known as the Lamentation of Christ, and I have called this The Lamentation as a nod to the original source.
This tapestry was inspired by the medieval tapestries I saw during my travels as a Winston Churchill Fellow and the medieval frescos I saw in Bulgaria. Many I saw depicted various Marys weeping over Christ but it occurred to me one would not be caught weeping in front of the murderers of one’s loved one, but as an accuser one would look back with dignity and a spine of oak. The idea had a personal resonance with me and this is the result, I as the weaver, and also a Mary (my middle name) gets to look out through them. The medieval images are known as the Lamentation of Christ, and I have called this The Lamentation as a nod to the original source.
This tapestry was inspired by the medieval tapestries I saw during my travels as a Winston Churchill Fellow and the medieval frescos I saw in Bulgaria. Many I saw depicted various Marys weeping over Christ but it occurred to me one would not be caught weeping in front of the murderers of one’s loved one, but as an accuser one would look back with dignity and a spine of oak. The idea had a personal resonance with me and this is the result, I as the weaver, and also a Mary (my middle name) gets to look out through them. The medieval images are known as the Lamentation of Christ, and I have called this The Lamentation as a nod to the original source.
Chrissie Freeth
Handwoven Tapestries
For Sylvie
2023
Cotton warp, hand-dyed woollen weft
1.10m x 1.80m
For Sylvie is a handwoven tapestry created in the immediate aftermath of the sudden and premature death of a close friend. The figure is not a portrait, but a personification of mourning. Her wild, unkempt hair evokes the visual language of grief, while the banderole she holds bears the final words the I received from my friend, “hope for the gift of time.”
Within her dress, a landscape unfolds, a local park rising to the moor beyond, where a day we shared together became pivotal, inspiring me to pursue art full-time. A winding stream, suggestive of the Styx, separates realms of this world and the next. The two figures embrace reflecting a dream in which my friend appeared offering comfort in my grief. Swans move along the stream, representing the family she left behind.
Flowers fall from the figure’s hand, symbolising the friend’s life - her kindness, wisdom, generosity, and creativity - now without destination. The empty basket at her feet underscores this absence; there is nowhere for these gifts to go. As a memento mori, this tapestry reflects on mortality, memory, and the enduring presence of those who shape us, even after they are gone.
