The ATW collaborated with artist David Noonan in 2009 to produce Untitled, a complex design that juxtaposes several images in an effort to subvert traditional narratives, a technique synonymous with Noonan’s wider oeuvre.

Noonan often looks to things like 70s craft books and gothic architecture to help inform his narratives. The timelessness frequently found in his work is contradicted by the high-tech elements he often employs, adding to the tension his work generates. Noonan deliberately obscures the absolute nature of his narrative, allowing the viewer to be drawn into his theatrical compositions.

Prior to becoming a tapestry, the design was produced through silk-screen printed on jute canvas, and exhibited at the Tate Modern, London, as part of the group show titled Rings of Saturn in 2006. The weavers have used a printed version of the digital design as reference for their translation. In approaching the work, the weavers had no information about the conceptual content of the image. The decision to withdraw this information was made by Noonan.

The complex nature of the imagery provided a great challenge to the weavers as they sought to identify elements to exaggerate through the translation from printed design to woven tapestry. Some elements within the work are identifiable, while others have remained ambiguous. The weavers aimed to retain the sense of uncertain narrative generated by the original artwork, where cryptic shadows morph into identifiable forms.

This tapestry has a restricted palette, which has been extended by expanding the number of tones between the predominant shades. The weavers are working on what is essentially a gray scale that runs from black to white. The tapestry contains a moderate proportion of cotton, as cotton is able to hold faint colours more successfully than woolen yarn.

The tapestry was shown in the travelling exhibition British Art Show 7: In the Days of he Comet, curated by the Hayward Gallery in London, touring for 15 months across different cities in the UK. It was also selected by Noonan as his only work to be displayed at the 2010 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, which was held at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2010.

The work is now in the collection of Danielle and Daniel Besen.

David Noonan is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney.