Totem III

Zeisler helped establish the medium of fiber as a viable artform, moving it from the realm of function and decoration to the expressive and formal role associated with fine art. Nevertheless, the exquisite design of Totem III echoes the formal qualities of tribal objects and the characteristics of a ceremonial structure. An avid collector since the 1930s, Zeisler developed a deep understanding of various artistic traditions through her extensive travels and acquired a substantial collection that ranged from antiquities and tribal art to modern and contemporary pieces. 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 with Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy and Russian Constructivist Alexander Archipenko.