In May 2020, Weaving Futures gave 15 contemporary artists from around Australia the unique opportunity to develop concepts for contemporary tapestry, nurturing their professional development and creativity during an extraordinarily challenging time. Through re-imagining our usual commissioning process, an inspiring portfolio of ‘loom ready’ tapestry designs emerged — opening up the possibility for these artists to work with the ATW in the future.

In 2021, support for Weaving Futures from Creative Victoria and the Playking Foundation brought tapestry designs by artists Atong Atem, Troy Emery, Eugenia Lim and Hayley Millar Baker onto our looms. ATW weavers Pamela Joyce, Emma Sulzer, Tim Gresham, and Amy Cornall collaborated with these artists, working at the forefront of Australian contemporary art practice.

Hayley Millar Baker is a proud Gunditjmara woman and a research-driven, contemporary artist based in Melbourne. She uses photography and multimedia to examine how human memory is constructed and distorted through story-telling, place and time.

Millar Baker’s monochromatic 'I screamed aloud (I Will Survive)' tapestry, woven by ATW weaver Amy Cornall, interrogates the recall of a personal childhood memory — the experience of standing on a vast coastline, looking out into infinite space — in adult form.

Speaking about the highly collaborative nature of tapestry creation, Millar Baker noted that ‘Only recently have I begun collaborative work, and the Weaving Futures project was my first experience thinking outside of my solo practice. The 'I screamed aloud (I Will Survive)' tapestry has allowed me to consider how my work can translate into other mediums’.

During their meetings, Millar Baker and Cornall discussed crucial elements of the tapestry design, including maintaining the drape of the fabric, a sense of the movement and wind, and the moody atmosphere. Using a fine #12 warp at 3.5 warps per cm, with five strands of yarn per bobbin, Cornall deftly mixed a neutral yarn palette from black to white in a combination of warm and cool, using wool and cotton. The perspective of the ocean surface with its repetition of waves was challenging for Cornall to weave and capture, something she achieved by reserving her darkest black for the deep shadows combined with soft atmospheric blends.