Thaw

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.

From a distance, this piece is a work of magnitude, asking a viewer to accept the immense capacity of fiber, and to grow an understanding of fiber that surpasses its typical utilitarian association. It asks you to engage with a wall of sheer whiteness, uniform and mighty. Upon closer observation, the intricately hand-embroidered detail of “Thaw” demonstrates the sheer might required to complete a work of this size while working almost exclusively with a needle. The work explores myriad shades of white, beige, tan, and eggshell, dancing and catching shadows to remind you that you are witnessing fiber and not water.

Crafted in a cabin along the coast of Maine, “Thaw” serendipitously chronicles the lifecycle of frozen water in its myriad forms. From fall and frost, to thaw and melt, the inherent temporality of ice and snow enhances the drama and intrigue of its visual quality. To document this inevitable process of formation and destruction requires both patience and diligence; working quickly to not miss the magic of subtle shifts in composition, though slowly enough to capture the assemblage of each individual flake and shard.

In totality, “Thaw” is an endurance piece. With winter in coastal Maine as her muse, Hemenway sought to pay homage to the wondrous vast white snowscape. As she witnessed the arrival, sustain, and melt of snow and ice, she documented its splendor and dynamism in wool, imbuing the work with an air of levity while guided by a certain linearity. Embroidered on cotton warp fabric from Eswatini, the work has an inherent warmth upon which Hemenway cast her frozen wonderland. Through this process, Hemenway was able to generate an astonishing 45 feet of fiber mural. Though our climate will change, and winters in Maine may become more unpredictable, Hemenway’s “Thaw” solidifies a winter moment full of awe.