In 2008 the magnificent Alice Bayke tapestry, designed by Yvonne Todd, was woven at the ATW. The tapestry was commissioned by the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG), with funds from Tim Fairfax AM and Gina Fairfax, to celebrate QAG’s continued relationship with the Pacific.

The QAG sought to engage an artist from the Pacific region that was interested in collaborating with ATW weavers. After extensive conversations with the QAG curators and the ATW, Alice Bayke an image by New Zealand photographer Yvonne Todd, was selected.

Alice Bayke was taken from a series of five photographs, titled Sea of Tranquillity, created by Todd in 2002. The original artwork was inspired by Todd’s fascination with iconic imagery from 1960s of celebrity icon Priscilla Presley. Yvonne was compulsively drawn to the heightened artifice of Presley’s appearance:

“I was intrigued by the heavy-handed cosmetology of her look. Wigs and false eyelashes and pale lips. Her strange, doll-like appearance. I was also occupied with repressed emotions, deflation, piety and stoicism, vigilance and austerity.’… The emotional repression of the subjects corresponds with the Moon as a symbol of human separateness and loneliness.”

Interpreting a photographic work of this nature presented a number of technical challenges for the weavers, such as the hair, skin and transparency of the gown sleeves. A subtle palette of yarns was selected to create complex mixes, in an attempt to achieve the quality of light and tone present in the photograph. ATW dyer Tony Stefanovski dyed many delicate colours especially for this project.

Yvonne Todd won the prestigious New Zealand ‘Walter's Prize' in 2002, has shown in numerous international group shows and her work has been collected by major New Zealand institutions.