Artwork copyright Judith Poxson Fawkes. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Judith Poxson Fawkes. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Texts & Temples, 1994

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

Location: Stratton Elementary, Newport

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Texts & Temples is part of the late textile artist Judith Poxson Fawkes' body of hand-woven tapestries based on architectural forms and landscapes. This artwork also highlights the figurative possibilities of loom weaving. Poxson Fawkes designed her compositions using gridded drawings. This design plays with the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface by showing multiple sides and shadows of objects.

About the artwork’s title, Poxson Fawkes noted "I'm also interested in viewers determining what texts and what temples might be the subject of the tapestry.”

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Newport 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.