The Journey Begins

 

When I was a child I loved unicorns. I couldn't get enough movies, toys, or art that featured the mystical beast. I still, to this day, love them and go out of my way to find the coolest and most unique unicorn items.

 

She's an icon!

 

The film adaption of The Last Unicorn was and still is my most loved movie of all time. There is no hesitation when I get asked that question. I practically scream “The Last Unicorn!” The style of the animation, especially the opening, is something that has influenced me for years. You can imagine how delighted I was to learn that the opening of my favorite movie was inspired by a series of tapestries that I could see with my own eyes.

An obsession began. I had always wanted to do a deep-dive, study into The Unicorn Tapestries, but due to life lifing, I had to put it off time and again. I started by going back to a book that I had read on a very shallow, surface level.

That's when the spark of inspiration hit.

I don't have the highest clothing making skills; I can slap together a pretty cute skirt. So I decided to challenge myself and really push my skill base by designing, and eventually I will be creating, clothing based on The Unicorn Tapestries and The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries (a set of six tapestries that hang on the Musee de Cluny in Paris France). This idea got me thinking about the concepts of feminism, femininity, women's work, and the vagueness of the future unfolding before us.

This is just the beginning. Support your local library.

Originally I had planned to only use The Unicorn Tapestries as my inspiration, but I quickly realized I wanted to add cross stitch and imagery from the tapestries so I needed to expand my influences. I began to look into other tapestries that prominently featured unicorns. I focused in on the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries from Flanders. I chose these tapestries because of their similarity to The Unicorn Tapestries and the fact that the two sets were both based on French designs and created (probably) in Brussels.

The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries are a set of six tapestries that depict the five sense, sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell with the sixth being called To My Sole Desire, based on the motto written on the tent. There are several interpretations of the meanings of these tapestries, with the most popular being a meditation on the senses.

In 2020 Yuki Fukazawa dissected the tapestries and reinterpreted them as the life of Joan of Arc. (http://www.ladyandtheunicorn.com/) I am still looking into Fukazawa as an artist and there is very little online that I can find.

This is not surprising. Women in the arts are often ignored by the masses and are therefore, hard to find information about them. Sadly, sometimes artists' names are lost to history completely. Women aren't supposed to be creative. They are supposed stay home and do women's work.

And this feeds back into my original thesis of “Women's Work”. Joan of Arc did women's work. The weavers of these tapestries did women's work. This is a very Feminism 101 class of thinking, but somehow, we as a world wide society, have not grasped even the basics of the 101.

This isn't going to be an art history blog. I'm not here to be a teacher or educator when it comes to unicorns, or textiles, or medieval. This is very much a journey for me to practice my sewing skills, and create something that brings me joy. The fact that I will have a new wardrobe by the end of this is a plus.

Also I need something to keep me from completely spiraling into depression and mania. And given the current world and America in particular; spiraling is incredibly easy.

So here I am. Questioning everything and processing trauma.

If I'm gonna spiral, I should at least make something pretty out of it.