The

secret

to

great

art?

Finding

someone

else

to

make

it

Marina Abramović, William Kentridge, Jasleen Kaur and other leading artists reveal the fabricators they entrust with their creations.

William Kentridge has a less clear-cut conception of authorship. For decades he has worked with Stephens Tapestry Studio in Eswatini, southern Africa, first with Marguerite Stephens and now with her daughter Christine Weavind, on tapestries layering bold silhouettes over antique maps. “Translating an image into tapestry isn’t just mechanical,” Kentridge says. “Every stitch involves decisions — what to enlarge, what to simplify, what colour to use. It’s the skill of the weaver that gives a tapestry a particular quality.” Weavind describes it as a relationship of mutual respect. “William entrusts us with his designs and leaves the translation largely in our hands.”