Tapestry, 'The Pigeon Factory', wool, Pru La Motte (nee Medlin), Jam Factory Workshops, Adelaide, 1977
Wallhanging, woven, tapestry weave and slit weave. Coarse handspun wool weft and wool warp. Two loom widths joined down centre of hanging. Applied wool embroidery. Depicts a group of people with one 'flying' overhead; these are the first workshop managers at the Jam Factory Crafts Workshops in Adelaide. Above: Mike Wallis-Smith (manager); Frank Bauer (jeweller renting space); the faceless potter who never came; Pru La Motte (weaver); Sam Herman (glass); Vagn Hemmingsen (jeweller); Pietro Salemme (leather). These people are depicted in various states of nakedness depending on La Motte's view of their political innocence within the Jam Factory's administration. The administration (Wallis-Smith) is depicted as a pigeon carrying a briefcase, because the pigeons in the building were a constant source of complaint and 'shat everywhere'.

Pru La Motte (born 1928; known as Medlin until about 1980)

PLACE OF MANUFACTURE: Adelaide (probably in La Motte's workshop at home, 76 Cross Road, Myrtle Bank)

Gift of the Jam Factory Craft and Design Centre

92/1766

1976