Hand Woven Contemporary Tapestry

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"Triangle VI", a hand woven tapestry, was woven by Myra Reichel is a 4' x 5x 1/8" hand woven contemporary … Read more "Triangle VI", a hand woven tapestry, was woven by Myra Reichel is a 4' x 5x 1/8" hand woven contemporary tapestry from a Series of Tapestries titled "The Law of Three Series". Woven by hand on an upright Tapestry loom (see photograph of Myra's loom showing warped (underlayment of yarns to be cover by another group of yarn called the weft) before the cross yarn called weft is woven through it - the word tapestry means broken thread so instead of the yarn going edge to edge the weft yarn starts and stops to form different areas of color and/or texture ). Myra Reichel. Myra started weaving in 1971 at the Philadelphia College of Art. She also wove with other members of the Institute for Religious Development that studies the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff. This Series explores the Law of Three as presented in Mr. Gurdjieff's “All and Everything, An Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man".

Even though weaving is a slow process, meditative in nature Myra brings elements of spirituality as a student of G. I. Gurdjieff, a s a Reiki Master and Master Teacher of Magnified Healing ® and her love of the paintings of Kandinsky and brings spontaneous choices given her love of Dada Art into her weaving randomly picking yarns from baskets of similar different textures of the chosen color or having visitors to her studio join her int he weaving process. Her love of Dada Art started when she was a child and her parents took her to the Philadelphia Art Museum, where the building was designed after Greek temple going in through building past Religious Art from the Renaissance and into the Dada Gallery where a plumbing trap in a miter box was titled "God".

Myra Reichel's tapestries can be hung vertically or horizontally, this means that her signature on the tapestries, the MRc (standing for Myra Reichel copywrite) may be located on different corners depending on how hund. The tapestry has Velcro sewn onto the side or sides that the client wishes to orient the image. The other side of the Velcro is attached to a wooden board that can usually be attached to the wall with two or more nails or screws and then the Velcro side of the tapestry can be attached to the Velcro on the Board. .

Myra Reichel's "Triangle VI" is shown in two photographs hung vertically and the original pencil drawing for the "Law of Three Series" is seen in a separate photograph and again on the wall with "Triangle VI" hung horizontally along with another "Law of Three Series" tapestry “Law of VI".

During the weaving process and can also be views while looking at the back of the tapestry, ends of yarn can be seen sticking out where one color ends and the next color starts - tapestry means broken thread since the weaver weaves one image in one yarn color and the next image in the tapestry in another color, may return to what is considered the background color or another image color can be woven each line of the piece woven straight across or each shape that is wider on the bottom is woven the other shapes filled in, sometimes there is a slit in the tapestry if the weaving goes up a straight line or the 2 colors are interwoven with yarn looping around each other. Sometimes a color shows up more on the front side than on the back.
When the tapestry is taken off the loom it is pinned down as straight as possible (Myra has other weavers join her at the loom as part of her interest in DADA random and accidental happenings or she herself lets her own body tension change while weaving so the tension and beating of the yarn is uneven) , then the weaving is blocked with a hot iron over wet cloths and left to set and dry. After that the tapestry is unpinned and the hems and Velcro is sewn on side to hang from and if visually can be hung with other side(s) Velcro is sewn on other sides. This tapestry can be hung from multiple sides, consequently, as said before, this may make Myra Reichel's signature MRc show up upside-down or sideways in addition to possible right side up. The weavings are woven from one hem to the other, so many times the piece is hung horizontally because more of the vertical images weave better when woven across the tapestry and show better when hung in the horizontal direction.

Myra Reichel's group of multiple tapestries of "Law of Three Series" have been exhibited the group exhibit at the Art of the State Exhibit in Harrisburg, PA 2002, at a 2 person exhibit at the Amity Gallery in Warwick New York 2022, and in Myra Reichel: 50 Years Woven Retrospective at The Assembly Gallery, in the Crane Arts Building in Philadelphia, PA 2024. See less