Week 7 : weaving

I tried parodying a modern magazine cover to highlight societal expectations placed on women’s bodies.

Modern interpretation using post notes.

I tried to mimic the protest signs against feminicides.

I kept the original tapestry intact and made my drawings as seamless as possible. My aim was not to change the image, but to reveal its underlying meaning. The illustrations blend into the mille-fleurs and the animals, becoming part of the tapestry’s language rather than disrupting it. So I took inspiration of how they tell the story in The Story of the Buzzard tapestry.

Tried drawing like weaving the tapestry, to modifie it.

Du ring my research for the magazine cover experiment I went upon this artwork which lead me to do more research on the back of tapestries. I learned that conservators often turn to the back of the textile during restoration. Protected from light exposure, the back preserves pigments that are significantly more accurate than those on the faded front. In this sense, the reverse becomes the most authentic record of the tapestry’s original appearance.

Lion	Bearer of honor — courage bound to the world of men.	They praise his courage — I carry mine in secret.
Goat	Instinct tamed by grace.	Instinct trimmed to please.
Rabbits	Life renews itself in silence.	Life blooms but I must hold my tongue.
Pine tree	Ever green, it holds the promise of return.	I too remain evergreen — enduring through the seasons of forgetting.
Sitting dog	Patience at her feet, the faithful heart that waits.	I refuse meekness — I bite when I must.
Pavilion	The pavilion holds the moment between wanting and wisdom.	This is my space, desire lives here on my terms.
Dog	Bound in service yet loyal by choice.	I am loyal only to myself.
Lamb	Sacred meekness	Virtue becomes mockery
Unicorn	The unicorn bows to innocence, a mirror of purity untainted by desire.	He honors only the restraint I show, while ignoring all that makes me alive.
Monkey	Playful temptation	Playful, until they call it sin.
Lady	She chooses, not through desire, but through will, the soul governing the senses.	Every symbol around me whispers lust. They call me innocence.

Transforming the tapestry’s traditional symbols into the Lady’s own voice reframes her from a passive emblem of virtue into a conscious, resisting subject.

The Lady goes from witness to critic of the double standards : surrounded by animals, flowers, and erotic symbols, she is still treated as a “pure” object.

An exhibition designed so visitors can move freely around the tapestry, allowing them to approach its details up close and view both the front and the back.