The Unicorn's Secret- Vulva Pillow Collection

The Unicorn Resting

Inspired by the artists who came before us, and the centuries of textile history which continues to inspire.

Drawing on one of my most inspirational historical textiles, this collection of pillows spins a fairy tale story of finding oneself, unchaining ourselves from our past and our exceptions of the unknown future.

Residing on the most northern tip of Manhattan, sits the Cloisters, which have been the home of the famed Unicorn Tapestries. The seven individual hangings known as "The Unicorn Tapestries," are among the most beautiful and complex works of art from the late Middle Ages that survive. Luxuriously woven in fine wool and silk with silver and gilded threads, the tapestries vividly depict scenes associated with a hunt for the elusive, magical unicorn. To me, The Unicorn Tapestries represent the bipolar aspects of what I love and hate about art, our human history, mystical creatures and femininity. The chained unicorn in the garden, formally known as "The Unicorn in Captivity" has many meanings, but the story I have made up around it, is a story of “self” imposed imprisonment; societal expectations and limitations of “femininity”; and “women’s work” aka textile arts- being categorized as something that is both necessary and frivolous, something that can be tamed as a vocation but doesn’t get recongnition from the art world as fine art, but as “textile art.” The dichotomy of visual art and functional art. As the years have past and I look at the unicorn in the garden with fresh eyes, I also see myself, collared with the idea of womanhood and a timeline of successful mile markers and social queues imposed upon me, and of course the gateway to life I hold within me, thanks to my X-Chromosome; lots of lofty expectation all while being tethered to a fragile tree. Looking closely at the art, the Unicorn is collared and chained, but the chain is loosely draped around a mere sapling. In this story, I have fenced myself in, and the world out, but like the fence in the art, it is low and decorative, barely functional. I can easily escape, and people can easily get in, which is sometimes welcome, and sometimes discouraged, depending on the people.

From MetMuseum.org: "The Unicorn in Captivity" aka “The Unicorn Resting” may have been created as a single image rather than part of a series. In this instance, the unicorn probably represents the beloved tamed. He is tethered to a tree and constrained by a fence, but the chain is not secure and the fence is low enough to leap over: The unicorn could escape if he wished. Clearly, however, his confinement is a happy one, to which the ripe, seed-laden pomegranates in the tree—a medieval symbol of fertility and marriage—testify. The red stains on his flank do not appear to be blood, as there are no visible wounds like those in the hunting series; rather, they represent juice dripping from bursting pomegranates above. Many of the other plants represented here, such as wild orchid, bistort, and thistle, echo this theme of marriage and procreation: they were acclaimed in the Middle Ages as fertility aids for both men and women. Even the little frog, nestled among the violets at the lower right, was cited by medieval writers for its noisy mating.”

Reading the above description of The Unicorn Resting (instead of “in Captivity”), I love the idea of the dripping pomegranate juice, bursting as symbols of fertility- what a beautiful visualization of the monthly flow, a symbol of health, but also of self-sacrifice tethered to parenthood. In my story of the Beloved Unicorn, my unicorn is THEY and Us. Long gone are the days of presenting a virgin bride with unicorn in captivity. In my story, femmes are both, and neither, the captor and captive, to come and go as they please.

Now let’s write ourselves into the story line… with these Vulva Pillows. Mixing hand dyed fabrics, velvet, digitally printed satin with images of skeleton keys on a background of royal purple, and a piece of vintage floral lace borders the universe within each symbolic vulva. The Keys to the secret garden are within each of us, perhaps the gate is hidden behind brambles, perhaps we have already opened it and it stands open welcoming others, or perhaps, leading others out? On the back side of the symbolic vulva, lives the Unicorn Resting, also symbolically tethered within the garden, but upon closer look, free to come and go, secure within their loving emotional boundries, surrounded with beauty, grace and the unspoken language of flowers.

More secrets are waiting to be lived.

Above are images from one of my many trips to the Cloisters, these images taken in early 2016.

Below are images from the Met Museum archives of The Unicorn Resting, the detailed close-ups. Behind the mystical story of the Unicorn Tapestries, I love to take time to appreciate the hundreds of hands that were employed to create these masterpieces… illustrators, gardeners who grew and foraged the plants for dyeing the yarn, the farmers that raised the sheep that the wool was sheered from and those who fed the silk worms mulberry leaves, the hand dyers who dyed the wool and silk, the carpenters that build the looms and frames, the weavers who warped the looms and wove the illustrations; and we can break it down even more: the people who tended the fires so the fingers of the weavers were agile enough to weave the intricate images, perhaps there were people who lit the studio so the subtle colors and details weren’t lost, the cooks who kept the artists fed, and the list goes on. The stories tumble through my imagination, keeping me coming back to admire The Unicorn Tapestries.

Title: The Unicorn Rests in a Garden (from the Unicorn Tapestries)

Date: 1495–1505

Geography: Made in Paris, France (cartoon); Made in Southern Netherlands (woven)

Culture: French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)

Medium: Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts

February’s Limited Vulva Collection sold exclusively on www.rivtak.com: Now Available!

*The image of “the Unicorn Resting” is apart of the public domain and is legal to reproduce and sell.

Read more about The Unicorn Tapestries Collection here and see the rest of the story for The Hunt of the Unicorn, all housed at The Cloisters.