Indholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2023 i Embroidery

Artists Helen O’Hare and Wilma Kirkpatrick have completed a new piece for Belfast Cathedral (on display until the end of the year) to coincide with the second Linen Biennale Northern Ireland, which has the theme ‘revive and renew’. The artists have used Irish linen as the foundation fabric, which has been embellished with computerised embroidery and hand-stitching. The duo sought to portray the displacement of people around the world and also show how people can feel an element of loneliness even in the company of friends and family. The artwork conveys the outlines of people, shoulder by shoulder, with elements of clothing applied to create a sense of community, but also explores the suffering of war which causes such unforgivable turmoil and uncertainty. LINENBIENNALENORTHERNIRELAND.COM DR IAN NIGEL HURLSTONE has scooped…

IN AN ASTONISHING photograph taken in 2019, a collection of large, vibrantly coloured and heavily-worked embroideries hang on a garden washing line. The embroideries had been put out to air following more than 60 years in the storage of Patricia Beger, whose late husband Leslie was an antiques dealer. He had acquired 11 spectacular embroideries, a group of postcards and an embroidered hat by an artist called Madge Gill. These incredibly unusual and detailed pieces, still pristine and made by the remarkable self-taught Gill (1882–1961), are typified by swirling, condensed abstract patterns full of energy and movement. Though she experienced some success during her lifetime, over the years Gill’s works were lost and became overlooked. Many have recently come to light as a result of extensive searches and in-depth research…

Can you tell us how you started on your journey with embroidery? My mother and both my grandmothers were prolific knitters, stitchers and dressmakers and wanted to pass their knowledge on to me, but I didn’t show any interest. I had three brothers and preferred to climb trees and play football. It wasn’t until my late 20s and early 30s that I started doing simple cross stitch and completed an A-level in textiles, and it progressed from there. Now, I think of all the things I would have learnt if only I’d sat down with Gran. What was your work like initially and how has it developed? I’ve always loved fairytales so my passion for textiles started off with creating dolls. Then I discovered machine embroidery, initially working in two-dimensions…

THIS FASCINATING, EXTENSIVELY-RESEARCHED and sourced exhibition shines a light on the last century and a bit before the end of the Qing empire, and its last emperor. There are more than 300 objects on display, but I am focusing on a few pieces of embroidered/textile-based work which embody the richness and diversity of this exhibition. One of the first embroidered pieces that catches your eye is a beautiful golden informal Imperial winter robe for a boy emperor. It was made around 1875-1900 from embroidered silk, gold thread and fur. The vibrancy of the colours on this piece are what strike you: the flowing, linear almost rainbow pattern woven into the silk, which contrasts with the traditional dragon, tree and cloud motifs. In total contrast, but possibly even more striking is…

A NEW YORK CITY-BORN and based artist, Jordan Nassar works at one remove from his Palestinian cultural heritage but has recently created a body of work in collaboration with craftswomen living and working in Ramallah. Closer to the Sky (2023), pictured, is a series of chequer-board-like panels inspired by mountainous landscapes and stitched within the framework of tatreez, traditional Palestinian embroidery that features a range of motifs and is sometimes called ‘Palestinian cross-stitch’. By rendering landscapes within patterns, Nassar creates layers of perspective that recede or bring forward imagined vistas. He pieces together panels of dense pattern as if they were tiles in a mosaic to create compositions that vibrate with colour. Fields of intricately stitched green, blue, red and black patterning define and anchor panels of mountains, whose high…

NOW A FIRM FIXTURE in the UK textiles calendar, the British Textile Biennial launches its third edition this October. Looking set to continue to explore many of the broad themes that made the 2021 edition such a rich offer for visitors, the Biennial aims to investigate further the local, international and colonial contexts that surround the production of textiles in Pennine Lancashire. These subjects are in the organisation’s DNA. Indeed, with many of the Biennial’s projects presented in buildings connected to the textile infrastructure of the region – Blackburn Cotton Exchange, Helmshore Mills Textile Museum and Queen Street Mill among them – the Biennial’s projects are absolutely rooted in the specifics of place. Developed in collaboration with Super Slow Way, a programme covering the Leeds & Liverpool Canal corridor that…

Need to feel inspired again? The #SeptTextileLove Instagram challenge could be just the ticket. Every day in September seam collective will provide a prompt and is inviting all who love textiles to join in. Each year the prompts are slightly different and each year the number of textile-lovers involved increases. Everyone is welcome to join the challenge, from professionals, hobbyists, researchers, teachers, lecturers and artists to students, makers, designers, curators and beginners. At the end of each day, one of the seam members selects three of their favourite posts from participants as a highlight from that day’s prompt. The #SeptTextileLove challenge has been running since 2017 and has been growing year on year: the hashtag now has more than 22,600 posts. The best thing about the challenge is making connections…

OVER THREE DECADES, the Knitting & Stitching Shows and the Embroiderers’ Guild have collaborated to showcase emerging graduate artists. Now, an inspiring retrospective exhibition and new book is set to celebrate and chart the trajectory of not only individual artists but this fruitful partnership Anthea Godfrey, artistic director at the Guild, explains: ‘We set ourselves a real challenge of finding a way to celebrate 30 years of the Graduate and Scholar Showcase. Selecting the students and scholars and organising the exhibition each year for the Knitting & Stitching Shows is complex enough, but to gather content from over 50 artists who have benefited from being exhibited over the last 30 years was a daunting prospect.’ Enter the Guild’s new publishing team whose mission it is to explore the incredible history…

MY INTEREST IN PAPER began after a trip to Hayle Mill in Kent while an art student on the embroidery course at Goldsmiths College. I witnessed cotton and linen rags being shredded and pulped and was captivated by the beautiful sheets of rag paper which resulted. Encouraged by Audrey Walker and Michael Brennand-Wood, I spent the next two years manipulating pulp and making ‘paper’. Depending on how it was dried, it was either three-dimensional or flat; it could pick up an impression, be leather hard, soft, fragile or robust. I was one of the first students to use paper as a textile medium within the department and was drawn to the work of fine artists such as Harry Thubron, Joel Fisher, Kurt Schwitters, Mark Tobey and in a broader sense,…

How did the group start? We first met at the advanced textile course at CityLit Institute, London, in 2012. As well as an end of term show in the college, we also held an exhibition at the WAC gallery, Waterloo, London. Recognising our shared commitment to making textile work, most of us were keen to continue our collaboration, so we formed Thirteen Textile Group (TTG) the following year. Is there an overriding principle that binds you together? Although our textile practices brought us together, TTG is held together by the friendships formed. Our commitment to an annual exhibition to showcase our work has continued within that framework of friendship. We keep the group small in order to stay more easily in touch and support each other in the process of…

Sunbury Embroidery Gallery is to exhibit the fruits of its collaboration with The Grange Centre for People with Disabilities in an exhibition running from 24 October to 17 December. Introduced by embroidery doyenne Diana Springall, the gallery’s trustees and volunteers have been impressed by the range and quality of art, crafts and embroidery the residents have produced. The history of The Grange dates back to 1927, when Miss Julia Sweet founded The School of Stitchery and Lace. Miss Sweet was a talented needlewoman and pioneer in teaching skills to young women with disabilities so they could gain employment and support themselves. In 1938, the school moved to Great Bookham, Surrey and later became known as The Grange. Today, The Grange provides a vital service supporting people with learning disabilities to…

Renowned textile artist Alice Kettle, who won this year’s Brookfield Properties Craft Award, is exhibiting new work in an exhibition called To Boldly Sew at two of Brookfield’s exhibition spaces: 99 Bishopsgate in London’s Square Mile and 30 Fenchurch Street. A pioneer in textile art, Kettle’s work is deeply rooted in traditional textile practices but incorporates innovative techniques pushing the boundaries of the medium. She uses a uniquely hybrid technique that involves a sewing machine, free-stitching and digital embroidery, often working on the back of the fabric. Kettle’s art explores notions of memory, identity and community and her pieces often feature intricate figurative compositions that capture the essence of the human experience. Until 29 September. ALICEKETTLE.CO.UK BETH SOMERVILLE, who graduated from Falmouth University’s textile design degree this year, has been…

AN ENCAPSULATION OF Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree – sky-touching and overarched by a giant hazelnut tree – Rhiannon Williams’ sewing room is in the attic of a 17th century threshing barn. ‘It does feel like a grown-up tree-house,’ she says. Deep in rural Herefordshire, it lies on the outer reaches of the farm that’s been in Williams’ family for generations, though, as she explains, never as a working one. With its tin roof and heavy, 7ft-high wooden door, it still retains the shell of its original purpose as a place to house hay and stable horses. Now it is her family’s spill-over storage space, but Williams’ sewing room – the only habitable part of it (though there’s no running water or toilet) – was a one-time bedroom for her then…

HIGH IMPACT ART comes in many forms but perhaps none so engaging as that of Nikki Parmenter. Large scale – currently up to 8ft by 5ft, in every colour of the rainbow and incorporating her ‘plastic entrapment’ technique, Nikki’s pieces are surefire crowd-pleasers. Gallery-goers generally ask her three questions: ‘How big is your house? How long did it take you to create this? Do you ever sleep?’ She generally replies: ‘My house isn’t very big, I don’t know how long it took me and, yes, I do sleep.’ Art is an obsession, though, and one that began after Manchester High School, where it was the norm to go on to study an academic subject at university; Nikki bucked the trend opting for a foundation art course. As her grandfather had…

DR JACK ROBERTS, aka JPR Stitch, sews every day. ‘It’s part of the process for me,’ says Roberts. ‘It rebalances me and sets me off well for the day. Some people use meditation or yoga, I sew.’ Yet rather than opting for the kind of serenity usually associated with sewing by hand, Roberts’ textile practice is, in fact, machine-driven. By way of explanation he adds: ‘I see my sewing machine as a tool. I’ve never felt comfortable drawing with a pencil or painting with a paint brush, but sitting down at my sewing machine I’m more at ease with creating.’ Likening it to making a continuous line, he began using machine sewing as a method of drawing when he was an undergraduate at Staffordshire University. ‘It translates what I want…

On show ALTON Taking a Thread: New Embroidery Group’s biennial exhibition, 16 Sept–1 Oct. Also on show will be ceramics from English Delftware to unique studio pottery. Allen Gallery, Church Street, Hampshire GU34 2BW. hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk AYLESBURY Blooming Threads: 400 years of embroidery blooms – an exhibition delving into the Embroiderers’ Guild Collection. Until 2024. Discover Bucks Museum, Church Street HP20 2PQ. discoverbucksmuseum.org BATH Kaffe Fassett: Timeless Themes in New Quilts until 1 Oct. Victoria Art Gallery, Bridge Street BA2 4AT. victoriagal.org.uk BOVEY TRACEY Helyne Jennings: Abstract textile art and digital prints until 23 September. MAKE Southwest, Riverside Mill, Devon TQ13 9AF. crafts.org.uk BILLERICAY Just Jane: textile art by Jane Barry 2–30 September. Craft Arena, Barleylands Farm Park and The Village, Barleylands Road, Essex CM11 2UD. jane.peterjane.co.uk BIRMINGHAM Madge Gill: The…