knitted hangings

charlotte was alway knitting. she loved the process and also the relationship of the grid-like structure of knitted fabric to to the productions of textiles that constituted all-over pattern abstract images. charlotte knitted scarves and sweaters and blankets which she gave to everyone in her family and to her friends. people typically wore their knitted artwork until it fell apart and then came back asking for replacements.

when charlotte became pregnant and as she became more involved with meditation having traveled to India to become teachers of transcendental meditation, her and her husband , michael peter cain, moved out of the Pulsa commune into a country estate in Litchfield, CT.  immediately after  birth of her oldest daughter charlotte decided to knit and make larger abstract works of art.
she found sources for yarn in New York City and made frequent pilgrimages there to purchase truckloads yarn.

charlotte began to produce beautiful large tapestries that she took to NY City to show friends.  the Bank of America collection acquired one of her first large pieces and Alan Stone of Alan Stone Gallery tried to purchase another to use as a bed spread, but Charlotte declined to sell the piece to him.

charlotte developed a method of laminating her knitted fabric to canvas with Rhoplex that enabled the work to be easily hung on wall unframed.  In Chicago, weathervane dealer Nancy Laurie immediately offered Charlotte a show and got her a $50,000 corporate commission which then launched further production of the tapestries leading to shows in museums and galleries in NYC, LA, Providence, Chicago, Houston.

Previous
Previous

Agnes Martin

Next
Next

early works 1967-69