Triptych

Claire Zeisler helped establish the medium of fiber as a viable art form, moving it from the realm of function and decoration to the expressive and formal role associated with fine art. In particular, Zeisler used basic yarn or rope in a new way: to create three-dimensional relief forms with strong physical presences. Once Zeisler learned to weave in the 1950s, she combined her broad artistic knowledge with an avant-garde approach to the medium that had roots in her studies at Chicago’s Institute of Design.

In Triptych, Zeisler allows intricately knotted wool strands to spill onto the platform below, thus demonstrating their particular weight and movement. Zeisler’s systematic repetition of the same form in the three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) meanwhile focuses our attention on how different colors affect our experience of form and material.