The Queen

 The Tate Modern London is home to a large hanging sculpture known as The Queen 1962 (photos below). The Queen is composed of woven and knotted linen thread in a natural color and is suspended from bamboo poles. It is slightly over four meters high. At the top, it has a complex knotted and braided design. Below that, a narrower area gradually widens toward the middle of the piece before gently tapering off toward the floor. The braids may reflect Tawney's love for ancient Egyptian headdresses. At the same time, the knots are reminiscent of the nautical knots on the tugboats she observed from her riverfront studio in Lower Manhattan, New York.

In the United States, Tawney was a pioneer of "fiber [sic.] art." She began her career as a sculptor before switching to weaving in 1954 at the Penland School of Crafts, where she learned tapestry under the Finnish weaver Marta Taiple. 

The resulting artwork of Lenore Tawney,  her use of bamboo poles, and her focus on using natural colors make a statement about nature's and humanity's relationship to nature. Art from nature unites natural elements with artistic vision to create artwork that pushes the boundaries of what art is and how we perceive ourselves in the natural world.