Living in the Mouth of the World:
The Miniature Tapestries of D.R. Wagner

Exhibition Statement

This exhibition introduced the Miniature Needlepoint Tapestries of Sacramento artist, D.R. Wagner, to Oregon. This multi-talented artist works in many forms: poetry, music, and the visual arts. In the mid 1960’s he was one of the first Americans to write and publish ‘concrete’ poetry. His work explores the borders between written and spoken language, signs and symbols, and the visual world of painting.

For over two decades Wagner has been producing labor intensive, intricate embroideries that transpose the narrative text or voice of the poet into multi-colored textile images. His use of the medium is ironic. Working in what is traditionally an intimate craft activity, he employs small scale stitches, over 600 to the square inch, on canvas to address powerful subjects. He also challenges the tradition of embroidery by incorporating high technology fibers that phosphoresce under black light and glow in the dark and thereby alter meaning by shifting mood.

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