Tissuthèque

I was very fortunate this week to travel to Roubaix, France with Bradford School of Art. During my trip I visited the wonderful Tissuthèque textile archive at Musee la Piscine. The archivist, Norah, brought out some wonderful items for us to see. Although it was a brief visit I found it very inspiring and have some further lines of research in mind, but for now that's under wraps while I work on other things. Not long now until Lasting Impressions...

Cut & stitch

Exploration of patching.
Joining,
pattern,
contrast.
Grids of different scales.
Messed up grids and blocks

Yes and...

It's over a month since I last posted here. How embarrassing! I've had a few problems with technology and a few distractions, but I'm finally back to work in the studio.

During the summer I have been exploring some new work based on my visit to Sunny Bank Mills near Leeds. Taking my direction from stacks of samples in the mill archives and also from the buildings and site plans. The patterns of woven stripes and plaids, windows, mill rooftops, shadow lines and industrial features; the work is taking it's cue from variations on grids and blocks. Naturally that has leant itself to patchwork.

I am never certain if it is best to learn the rules and then work out how to break them, or to start without any rules and take your own line. This is something I have been pondering as I read through Sherri Wood's wonderful book The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters; is it better to be a beginner with no knowledge of traditional quilt patterns or to know the back catalogue and enjoy the thrill of tearing it up? As it happens I wouldn't quite consider myself at either end of that spectrum, but certainly more of a novice. As with so many things I know a little bit about a lot!

I like the idea of improvisation; working from a given starting point and then exploring out from it. So I have been working from Sherri Wood's 'tumbling blocks' score, playing with my own set of rules, adding, subtracting... playing! It's been a lot of fun and I could keep going for ever. But as with most projects there comes a point when things need to be brought to a conclusion. It's time to make some decisions and play at being the editor. More on that another day. Here are a few photos of some earlier work

More to follow soon...

Frozen fabric

Greening the urban landscape

Or perhaps this posting could be titled 'things to do in Tesco car park'? Looking at nature's reclamation of urban surfaces; first on the ground with these mossy 'carpets' ...

 ... and then on magical stickers/patches that grow algae on lampposts.

Finding patterns and the power of slow

I am a little bit obsessed with geometric patterns at the moment. Today while clearing rubbish from our garden I came across a strange combination of man-made pattern and organic textures. A roll of bubblewrap had been squashed in amongst old logs, timber, scrub and soil; slowly embossing surfaces and providing unnusual root runs. The power of slow.

... gives me a few ideas.

Infinite Variety

Probably one of the most amazing exhibitions I have ever seen, Infinite Variety nearly brought me to tears as I stepped into the 55,000 square foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall of Park Avenue Armory. The vast space was hung with 650 red and white quilts spanning three centuries or American quilt making. The show was created as a true visual spectacle, making you feel as a tiny Alice might have done with a whole pack of playing cards falling around her. Despite being the stars of their own show the visual impact of the quilts relied upon their display; contrasts of pattern juxtaposed in such diversity. To see so much pattern in one glance is a very rare thing indeed, and completely joyful. As one lady commented 'everyone is walking around with smiles on their faces, I've never seen that before at an exhibition'. 

Organised by the American Folk Art Museum, Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red & White Quilts showed just part of the vast quilt collection of Joanna S. Rose. 'While the idea of hundreds of quilts is impressive in the abstract, in actuality it is an unprecedented and immersive experience, both visually and physically.' The exhibition was designed and installed by New York company Thinc Design and is an absolutely inspired creation. 'This magical but ephemeral moment will ultimately be captured in the pages of a fully illustrated catalogue'... I can't wait, but I am so glad I was able to experience this phenomenon for myself. I will cherish the memory.



If you would like to see further photos or read more about the exhibition design take a look at this blog.