hand embroidery Archives - Page 16 of 58

2nd March 202416th March 2024

Unravelled Exhibition

I’m pleased to announce that Summer ’76 has been jury selected by curators Catherine Sweet and Melanie Jordan for the ArtCan Unravelled exhibition. This pop up exhibition is part of the bi-annual Contemporary Textiles Fair at the Landmark Arts Centre 15-17 March 2024, Ferry Rd, Teddington TW11 9NN.

Summer '76 part of the Unravelled Exhibition — Summer ’76 part of the Unravelled Exhibition

Curators

Catherine Sweet is an ArtCan artist and a member of our Advisory Group. Catherine is the founder of BobCat Gallery, an independent online gallery showcasing original and affordable small scale artwork, and she is currently the Chair of Visual Arts for South West London charity Arts Richmond.

ArtCan artist Melanie Jordan is based in rural Kent. Her art practice is very tactile and haptic, with thread based crafts at its core. She has exhibited throughout the UK and internationally, including ArtCan’s ‘Vienna Calling III’ exhibition, and ‘Supermarket Art Fair’ in Stockholm. Her work has also been shown at Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate. She was awarded an MA in Fine Art from The University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury in 2020.

Unravelled Exhibition at the Contemporary Textiles Fair

ArtCan Unravelled Exhibition

International non-profit arts organisation, ArtCan, will be popping up in South West London this March for a dual venue group exhibition focused on its artist members working with fibre and textiles. ‘ArtCan – Unravelled’ is co-curated by ArtCan members Catherine Sweet and Melanie Jordan.

“Textile art is one of the oldest art forms in human civilisation, and we encounter it in many different guises during our daily lives. While many early examples focused on function over form, contemporary creatives continue to push the boundaries of textiles as a medium, as well as incorporating new and diverse narratives into their work – whether that be through stitching, weaving, quilting, tapestry, knitting, crochet or something completely new.” -Catherine Sweet

ArtCan Unravelled aims to highlight how the boundaries of practicality and aesthetics can be blurred with the variety of methods used to create textile art, and to ‘tug on the thread’ of the narratives created within the whole.

“Thread-based crafts are moving off of the sidelines to take centre stage. Once seen as ‘woman’s work’, and given less attention than other art forms, contemporary artists are increasingly using textiles to create powerful and thought-provoking art. For me stitching is slow and methodical, where the doing is as important as the finished outcome. Soft and tactile, yet able to draw attention to uncomfortable concepts.” – Melanie Jordan

ArtCan have a second exhibition venue at RuptureXIBIT in Hampton Wick between 11 – 17 March.

Update: ArtCan ‘Unravelled’ Exhibition

Image courtesy: Catherine Sweet, curator ArtCan

Landmark Arts Centre.
Image courtesy: Catherine Sweet, curator ArtCan — Landmark Arts Centre. Image courtesy: Catherine Sweet, curator ArtCan

1st March 20241st March 2024

Textiel Plus Artist Interview

I’m pleased to announce that a wonderful Textiel Plus Artist Interview featuring my work has been published online. The article is edited by Dorothé Swinkels and appears on the highly prestigious Dutch magazine Textiel Plus website.

Please follow this link to read the full article (available in Dutch & English).

Dorothé Swinkels is a great enthusiast and connoisseur of autonomous textile art. After a career in the field as a teacher and coordinator of the fashion and textile department of the art academy in Maastricht, she now shares her acquired knowledge and very large network for the benefit of TxP and advises Museum Rijswijk in putting together the international textile biennials.
Textiel Plus

It was a few weeks after my work appeared in Textiel Plus Issue 266, that Dorothé Swinkels contacted me for an interview.

She asked about my design process and was particularly interested in some of my early pieces like Time for Tea, and some of my recent artworks like ‘Keepsake’.

Their website has a brilliant online portfolio of articles celebrating textile artists from across the world – full of beautiful, inspiring work.

Thank you to Dorothé and Textiel Plus for producing such a wonderful article.

3rd February 202429th February 2024

Dementia 2 – Confusion

A new exhibition at the House of Smalls called ‘Between the Lines’ prompted me to create a new piece of work called ‘Dementia 2 – Confusion ’ for the Dollhouse gallery.

‘Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’ ~ Dylan Thomas. ‘Between The Lines’, an exhibition relating to ageing and all that comes with it.
House of Smalls

The exhibition takes place at The House of Smalls, Cambrook Court, High Street, Chipping Campden, Glos GL55 6AT from 3rd February – 2nd March 2024.

About the artwork: Dementia 2 – Confusion

For years I was unsure what ‘living with dementia’ actually meant, then in early 2023 the meaning became very clear. A family member started displaying signs of confusion. On reflection, we realised that there’d been subtle symptoms of Dementia there for some time – the kind of symptoms that aren’t really noticeable when you see someone day to day – until you start to question it.

Dementia is devastating. It’s a rollercoaster of physical exhaustion, and emotional and mental anguish for both patient and carers.

This piece is part of a series about an experience of Dementia and in particular Vascular Dementia.

“Nothing feels the same…. I don’t know what’s going on” Mary S. 2023.

In the earlier stages, memory loss and confusion may be mild. The person with vascular dementia may be aware of — and frustrated by — the changes taking place, such as difficulty recalling recent events, making decisions or processing what was said by others. In the later stages, memory loss becomes far more severe. – Alzheimer’s Association.

Being forgetful, absentminded, or not quite remembering are often put down to old age or even menopause – but when does it become noticeable that there is something more going on?

Size 11.5 x 11.5cm. Hand embroidered cotton cloth, vintage Sylko thread.

Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia. – Alzheimer’s Research UK.