Untitled (Space Hanging)

Having devoted her previous production largely to private commissions, Guermonprez began to pursue an experimental style of weaving that disregarded functionality and, above all, had all the attributes of sculpture. Between 1961 and 1965, she made a series of large-scale works she called “space hangings”—some of the earliest three-dimensional weavings created in the United States. The example in the Shah Garg Collection consists of a single reverse-double- weave panel that connects along a central axis so that it maintains a crossed and suspended. Abandoning traditional tapestry weaving, Guermonprez devised several novel techniques: she left warps unwoven, resulting in a gauzy, transparent surface that appeared to shift in the light, and used pattern weaves to enhance the quality of movement.