Search

Penelope by Tatiana Blass

Penelope is a recent installation from Tatiana Blass – the name for the exhibit is taken from Homer’s Odyssey. Penelope was Odysseus’ wife and she remained faithful for twenty years while he was away at war. To keep her suitors at bay, she kept herself busy for three years weaving a burial shroud for her father-in-law while secretly unweaving parts of it at night. She promised she would choose one when she was done but delayed it to remain faithful.

The exhibit was designed to fill the Chapel of Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil, where Blass lives and works. Inside the chapel, a loom sits on the altar. One side has a long red carpet that leads to the door. On the other side of the loom, the chaotic strings of tangled red yarn continue through the holes of the chapel walls to the covered yard outside. The viewer is left to wonder if the piece is being woven or unraveled, like the story of Penelope goes.

Photos by Everton Ballardin.

[via Trend Tablet]

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.