Today I got the opportunity to visit a short exhibition by a local (Agen) tapestry artist – Laurence Cahn.
In our local Galerie Padma, Laurence is showing some of her vibrant, engaging tapestries. She deliberately packs in lots of colour, irregularly shaped areas and many different textures of yarn to cause the surface to buckle and contort. Other objects are also included – some found, some abstract, some tied and wrapped with yarns, some are strips of tapestries. They are tactile, continually taking your eye on a journey around the topographical surface, along colour paths, meandering around sudden inserts, and occasional excerpts from books or poems.
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Laurence told me that she has always worked with textiles, whether embroidering clothes or table linens or creating her tapestries on a vertical tapestry loom. Most are woven from bottom to top, but she does occasionally weave sideways. Her pieces have a spontaneity and a gaiety that engages the viewer. Their joie de vivre is apparent in the voluptuousness of the surfaces which photos don’t really show. Being technically correct is subservient to the physical expression of inner feelings and I really appreciated the feeling of energy and exuberance that these tapestries embody.
laurencecahn@hotmail.fr. +33 7 68 12 80 30