Bernard Frize

What the Tiger Says: Bengali: gorgon, Finnish: grrrrrr, Thai: ai hhoun houn. For how many times?, 2018-2019

Hand-knotted, hand-spun, hand-dyed natural wool

196 x 103cm

(dimensions are variable as each rug is handmade)

Limited edition of 10 plus two artist's proofs

Courtesy the artist

"In March 2018, I bought two Tibetan tiger rugs from an auction house in England. Shortly afterwards I received a fascinating and very enticing letter from curators Laura Culpan and Susie Allen, asking if I could lend one of my rugs for an exhibition in London. The letter was also an invitation to be one of the artists commissioned to make a new tiger rug in support of the WWF project that is tackling the very drastic problem of declining tiger numbers.

My response was immediate!

What an invitation! I could not have suspected I would be involved in such a great exhibition when I bought these two tiger rugs! I totally agree and support the WWF goal, and I also must say that I like the list of artists you have invited for your exhibition. I will lend mine with pleasure.

When approaching the design for my own tiger rug, I wanted to imagine it in my house: I don't live with my paintings and a rug design was very challenging. I have not worked with the process of rug making and it was an exciting medium for me to experiment with. I love the medium and collect rugs myself, mainly Tibetan, so it was going to be a doubly challenging project for me to be involved in. More than anything, I would love this project to make enough money to help save this amazing creature so that it can continue to roam wild within its natural habitat and not just be found in zoos." - Bernard Frize
 

Exhibitions

Tomorrow's Tigers (2019), Sotheby's London; (2019-2020) Academicians' Room at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.