Amanda McCavour reception

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Amanda McCavour

"Prairie Tickseed," by Amanda McCavour, in "Suspended Landscapes: Thread Drawings," March 11-Sept. 11, 2022, at the Chazen.

First off, don't think traditional embroidery. McCavour's large-scale “thread drawings” in the exhibit Suspended Landscapes will fill the Paige Court in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Chazen Museum and its inaugural Elvehjem building. McCavour stitches with a sewing machine on a fabric base that dissolves in water, leaving a strong but delicate-seeming web of images. The Toronto based artist visited Madison several times to create a site-specific work incorporating images of Wisconsin flora on a big scale. McCavour also curated a show of artwork on campus that inspired her installation, alongside her own preparatory drawings and materials. The installation is on display through Sept. 11.

"Suspended Landscapes: Thread Drawings," 3/11-9/11.

press release: Amanda McCavour’s thread drawings will fill the Elvehjem building’s Paige Court in the spring, depicting Wisconsin flora on a monumental scale. The work was commissioned to mark the building’s—and the museum’s—50th anniversary in 2020.

McCavour, who works with fabric and stitching to create embroidered installations, developed a new site-specific work in response to the collection and history of the Chazen Museum of Art and UW–Madison. The work will challenge the visual weight and dominating presence of the design and travertine marble of the Elvehjem building. Suspended Landscapes will be on view from March 11-Sept. 11, 2022.

Celebration: Thursday, August 11, 6:00 – 8:00 pm: Drop by the Chazen Museum of Art to meet Amanda McCavour, and learn how "Suspended Landscapes" grew in Paige Court to mark the Elvehjem building's—and the museum's—fiftieth anniversary. This event is free to attend and open to the public. Light appetizers will be provided.

Family Day: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm, Saturday, August 13: Drop by the Chazen Museum of Art for a day of fun for all ages! We will have ‘doodle stitching’ with artist Amanda McCavour, pressed floor bookmark making with Wisconsin State Herbarium, prairie plant scavenger hunts, a visit from Madison Reading Project, and more! Enjoy free treats while supplies last! Free to attend, no registration required.

“The Elvehjem Building was where our museum began, during a time of great national turmoil,” said Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen. “Amanda McCavour’s work has an assumed vulnerability, yet it also possesses great strength. Her work will offer a remarkable transformation of that space and reflection of our collection. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate all that has changed, and all that hasn’t, at the Chazen, during the museum’s first 50 years.”

McCavour’s work is often described as drawing with thread. By sewing into fabric that dissolves in water, McCavour builds up stitched lines on a temporary surface. When the fabric is dissolved, the thread drawing holds together without a base. The crossing threads possess an unexpected strength that counters the appearance of fragility. To present these thread drawings on a monumental scale, McCavour has printed them on rolls of sheer fabric that hang from the fourth floor and terminate in Paige Court.

During research trips to campus, McCavour visited the botany department, the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, the UW Librairies’ Special Collections, and studied native plant specimens held in the Wisconsin State Herbarium [https://herbarium.wisc.edu/about/] and botanical works from the Chazen’s collection. McCavour will also curate a presentation of the artwork on campus that inspired the installation, alongside her own preparatory drawings and materials.