A remarkable and highly individual CobrA-style abstract textile wall hanging by an unknown artist, composed from an extraordinary combination of hand-stitched fabrics, appliqué, embroidery, yarn and mixed media.
The work is dominated by a vivid palette of crimson red, turquoise blue, teal, yellow, green and violet, assembled into a wonderfully animated composition of abstract faces, mask-like figures, birds and fantastical biomorphic forms.
Measuring an impressive 185 × 72 cm, the piece is entirely hand-built from layers of appliquéd fabrics, embroidery, wool and cord, with small elements of glossy synthetic material. Thick stitched and braided outlines give the work an almost sculptural quality.
There is a strong affinity with the visual language of the CobrA movement: intense colours, raw and spontaneous lines, and a fantastic world of masks, birds, creatures and abstracted figures that seem to merge into one another. There is something wonderfully primitive, playful and slightly unsettling about it.
Small areas of shiny and reflective material punctuate the predominantly soft textile construction, catching the light and adding another dimension to the work. The irregular silhouette and open sections within the composition further blur the distinction between a traditional wall hanging and a piece of relief sculpture.
Viewed from a distance, it is a powerful piece of abstract wall art; up close, the remarkable variety of fabrics, stitches and hand-worked details becomes an artwork in itself.
