Major Public Works

If you are a curator for a museum or public institution and would like to know more about exhibiting Nancy Hemenway Barton’s work, please contact Rick Barton at krlfdb@aol.com or by calling 609-216-4084.

Bell Tower

Completed: 1991

Obfuscating time through linework, Bell Tower shows how our present lives can be understood as an evolution of our past. Silhouetted figures depicting fourteenth century workers wrap around a three-dimensional structure, telling a story of class and culture that spans centuries.

“With embroidery and using only black and white wool yarns I have drawn as I would with charcoal or paint the linear shapes. In every instance, I have tried to capture the essence of each craft, and suggest that the same figures, although in different dress, represent modern activities in our century. We may have many new inventions, but in much of the world, the plow, the easel, the boat remain recognizable and useful.

I have also tried to capture the elegance that Giotto gave to the figures.

The use of red lacquer is a foil to the black and white, to give elegance and finish to the composition.”

- Nancy Hemenway Barton about Bell Tower (December 3, 1991)

Bell Tower consists of twelve embroidered panels which can be exhibited by themselves or together as part of an elegant, 18-foot free-standing structure. Inspired by her time at the American Academy in Rome, Hemenway invites viewers of Bell Tower to reconsider their understanding of ‘strength’ in architecture as well as our knowledge of softness as it relates to fiber arts.

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Thaw

Completed: 1994

As a free-flowing translucent sculpture, “Thaw” calls you to come closer, drift forward, and become lost in the wonder of winter. As an artist develops their craft, competence and ambition compete against one another, compelling the other to grow stronger. Hemenway’s colossal 1994 installation “Thaw” embraces this energetic tug-of-war between capacity, growth, and ambition—all in pursuit of immersing the viewer in a woven winter world.

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Salt Shadow

Part of the Portland Museum of Art Permanent Collection

Completed: 1983

Through “Salt Shadow,” Hemenway sought to capture the motion of light and wind as they dance and blend across the ocean. While making “Salt Shadow” Hemenway wrote, “I believe this will be the only translucent tapestry of this dimension in existence.” In this work, Hemenway sacrifices traditional methods of construction in favor of compositional flexibility to capture the grandeur of a sparkling sea.

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Roserock

Completed: 1982

“Roserock” captures the visual brilliance of Maine’s jagged, granite shores and extends a tactile invitation to feel its brilliant flow and grandeur. The bold, 13-foot-wide tapestry includes shapes that evoke images of geologic structure, while maintaining the fluidity and movement of fabric found in a flag.

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Tipi Waterfall, Tipi Blizzard, and Tipi Cloud

Tipi Waterfall is part of the Wheaton College Permanent Collection

Tipi Waterfall Completed: 1986 (recreated in 1992)

In her final evolution of fiber artistry, Hemenway expanded her repertoire of fiber art by pulling tapestry off the wall and inviting the viewer to experience fiber art in three-dimensional space. Crafted for an international exhibition in Beijing, Hemenway’s Tipis sought to honor and elevate one of the most iconic American structures—the American Indian Tipi.

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Special Event

Completed: 1990

Red Wool and gray mixed wool/blue, white, gray, orange embroidery. (71” W x 112”L)

Pectoral I

Soon to be part of Berea College Permanent Collection (2024)

Completed: 1973

Brown bayeta with white bayeta and natural shades of brown and grey alpaca with orange wool yearn needlecraft. Organdy insets. Currently owned by Hemenway Foundation. (60”W x 72” H)

Murex

Completed: 1975

Swiss organdy with lamb’s wool, alpaca and mohair needlecraft, bayeta frame. Includes acrylic rod. (55” W x 100” L)

Marsh Goldenrod

Completed: 1974

Alpaca with bayeta applique, lamb’s wool and alpaca and needlecraft. Shown in The Trail exhibits to 2017 Ahead of Her Time exhibit. (55”W x 98”H)

Salt Forest

Completed: 1990

Alpaca with lamb’s wool and alpaca applique and needlecraft. Shown in Textures of our Earth catalogue.

Talus

Part of the Denver Art Museum Permanent Collection (2023)

Completed: 1981

Six fabrics, five alpaca, four in plain weave and one in twill weave and one in lamb’s wool, plain weave; surface embroidered in alpaca, mohair and lamb’s wool in open and closed satin and open and closed buttonholes stiches; hidden couching; joined, inserted, folded and tucked; fringed; lined in wool, plain weave. (87”W x 102”H)

Variations on Sea

Completed: 1981

Three panels, double sided cotton, plain weave; signed. Panel A: appliqued cotton, plain weave, attached with looped stitch. Panel B: appliqued cotton, plain weave, attached with looped stitch; surface embroidered in alpaca and silk in satin, stem and running stitches. Panel C: mohair and appliqued cotton, plain weave, attached with looped stitch; surface embroidered in mohair alpaca, lamb's wool and silk in satin, buttonhole, chain and running stitches; hidden couching. (73” H x 271/2” W)