Evolutionary Phases

Many of the leaders of the postwar Studio Craft Movement consciously abandoned the creation of useful objects in favor of nonfunctional art. This philosophy could be seen in the work of artists in all media. To this end, many of the textile artists of the 1960s and '70s tended to work on a large scale using natural, undyed fibers and unevenly tied knots to create hangings and woven sculptures. Diane Itter, who began working in the early 1970s, took a very different approach, creating small-scale works from fine, vividly colored threads. In 1979, she completed forty pieces, working exclusively in the double- half-hitch knotting technique from that time onward.