Secret Life of a Tapestry

A tapestry was sent to the Australian Tapestry Workshop to be professionally cleaned when I was an artist in residence in June/July 2019. The tapestry was being cleaned for the first time since its completion. I was interested in the cleaning process and fascinated by the outcome. The tapestry was divided into a 6 x 6 grid and each portion was vacuumed with a new filter. The filters were documented corresponding to the grid and formed an interesting pattern.

For the exhibition, woven pieces interpret the ‘dirt’ pattern, and attempt to tell the tapestry's stories and secrets.

Amanda Ho was born in Melbourne but spent part of her childhood in Hong Kong. She draws on the duality of her heritage to influence her practice. She learnt to weave while working as an architect. In 2015, she began to refocus from architecture to weaving, starting ‘the weavers’ workroom’. Her interest in design, materials, patterns and structures continues to influence in her work. Inspired by Yoshiko Wada’s lecture on Slow Fibre: the understanding of materials and their characteristics, Amanda’s work explores the individual behaviour of materials and their interactions with each other, thus manipulating them with calculated expectations. Amanda also teaches weaving at the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria and from her studio.