Artwork copyright Judith Poxson Fawkes. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Zephyr, 1998

Judith Poxson Fawkes
(American, born 1941, died 2019)

Location: Toppenish High School, Toppenish

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Zephyr is a richly patterned hand-woven tapestry by the late textile artist Judith Poxson Fawkes. The artist noted that this artwork, "depicting a window with blowing curtains and a book, is about refreshment provided by reading, sunlight, and moving air." The composition also plays with the illusion of three-dimensions on a flat surface by showing multiple sides and shadows of objects.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Toppenish School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Portland, Oregon-based textile artist Judith Poxson Fawkes (1941-2019) created elaborate, hand-woven tapestries that explore architectural and geometric forms, as well as the interplay of light and color.
Poxson Fawkes' tapestry artworks highlight the figurative possibilities of loom weaving. She designed her compositions using gridded drawings on graph paper. She often used a bird's eye viewpoint and played with the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface by showing multiple sides and shadows of objects.
Poxson Fawkes earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University in 1963 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1965. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1972, with her husband, artist Tom Fawkes. She taught weaving at four colleges in the Portland area, including Lewis & Clark College. In 1984, she became a full-time studio artist. Her tapestry artworks have been exhibited all across the United States and are in many collections, including the American Crafts Museum in New York City.