Terri Friedman at Shoshana Wayne

As a weaver myself, I’ve long been a fan of Terri Friedman’s fearlessness. Her densely patterned weavings are loose, experimental, and unprecious — thick roving abuts thin metallic thread; large slits in her weavings are permitted to sag; fluorescent colors garishly share space with muted ones. And despite all this raucousness, as a painter (who has long explored making paintings without paint), Friedman’s weavings have a composed quality to them. She pushes the boundaries just far enough to hem them back in, capturing her unconventional moves within the boundaries of organic shapes and text. 

In fact, text often acts as an inroad to Friedman’s pieces — words like YES, REFRESH, and HEAL provide optimistic context to the work, which the press release describes as “a response to anxiety, anger, and grief.” This turbulence can be felt in a suite of small woven portraits, many of which include inlaid stained glass, all of which feel like amalgams of various psychological states as if each person represented were caught within in a stage of becoming. 

Across the show, contrast seems to be at the forefront — and whether juxtaposing colors, materials, forms, or even states of our own being, Friedman is unabashed in her experimental and joyous approach to making. 

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Photo: Terri Friedman, What Can go right, 2023. Cotton, hemp, acrylic, wool, chenille, metallic fibers. 100 x 152 in. Image courtesy of Shoshana Wayne Gallery.