A major figure in the fiber movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Lenore Tawney redefined the possibilities of weaving and led the way toward the explosive growth of fiber art in subsequent decades.  She created a new vocabulary for textile works by subverting the typical woven grid and inventing new ways of weaving beyond the traditional boundaries of the loom. In order to emphasize the sculptural qualities of her works, Tawney maintained that they hang in space rather than against the wall.

Florica Zaharia, the one facilitating Lenore Tawney’s presence in Iași, is a PhD in textiles and a Conservator Emerita of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she worked for nearly half of her life as textile conservator – thirteen years of which she was the Conservator in Charge of the Department of Textile Conservation. In 2018 she founded a museum that is unique in Europe: Muzeul Textilelor in Băița and Hărțăgani, Hunedoara County.

Florica Zaharia is one of the friends and keepers of Tawney’s legacy, including her innovative weaving techniques. For INCANTATIO MUNDI, Zaharia reveals Tawney’s studio practice through her own hands.