Suspended Landscapes: Thread Drawings by Amanda McCavour

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.

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 Libraries’ Special Collections, and studied native plant specimens held in the Wisconsin State Herbarium 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.