The Story of Art Without Men

by Katy Hessel

In America, the self-taught Judith Scott (1943–2005) was using fibre in a completely different way. Her fluid and complex sculptures merge wheels, trolleys, locks and chairs with bundles of threads – some of these pieces she would work on for six hours straight, or months at a time. While Scott has often been positioned alongside those in ‘Art Beyond the Mainstream’, I believe she deserves to be placed among the greatest innovators of fibre. Her inventive methods and obsessively spun sculptures cocoon found objects and function as a form of communication – which is particularly extraordinary for someone who couldn’t hear or speak verbally. Born with Down’s syndrome and an undiagnosed deafness, from the age of seven Scott’s family placed her in a series of mental institutions. She endured horrific conditions for more than thirty-five years, until 1985,