below: Wlodzimierz Cygan, STREAM, 35" x 156" (90cm x 400cm), 2002, wool and polypropylene, curved warp

below: Wlodzimierz Cygan, STRUCTURE, detail, 2004

below: Wlodzimierz Cygan, WHITE LEAF

. . . Alex Friedman has made a dramatic shift from her earlier architectural style of pictorial tapestry and the results are exciting. . . . Delving into the notion of "tapestry as textile" has become one of the main thrusts for this exploration.

At the beginning of the 2000s, she produced about 10 small tapestries with portions that flipped out from the surface. Although pleased with their success, she . . . realized they were limited in size because of the nature of the materials and the demands of gravity on them if large scale. . . . the conviction that there was a solution to achieving more dimensionality lingered in her mind. . . . during this gestation period . . . the phrase that tapestry should be about textile registered with her.  She started by contemplating wool and yarn, drawing until she had captured the nature of wool plied and formed into a skein and created a cartoon that began the Flow series. . . .

below: Alex Friedman BOUND, 45" x 35", 2007; photo by Kate Cameron

below: Alex Friedman, BIG SOFT FLIPS, 9" x 9", 2002

below: Alex Friedman, PINK FLIPS WITH RED JAZZ, 9" x 9", 2002

below: Alex Friedman, TRIPLE FLIPS, 9" x 9", 2002

below: Alex Friedman, VENUS BABY, 51" x 42" x 3", 2009

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