Inspired by Haeckel: calcareous sponges
With less than six weeks until our exhibition at City Lit opens, I’m feeling the pressure a bit, as I still haven’t finished any of my four remaining pieces. As I mentioned in a previous post, these pieces are all inspired by Haeckel. The one I’ve made most progress on is a shallow twined dish […]
Contemporary bamboo: masters from Japan at the Eskenazi
I have always associated the Eskenazi Gallery in London’s Mayfair with Chinese antiques, so it was a bit of a surprise when I learned that it was holding an exhibition of Japanese contemporary bamboo art. Eight outstanding Japanese bamboo artists are represented here: Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, Honda Shoryu, Ueno Masao, Honma Kazuaki, Morigami Jin, Yonezawa […]
Basketmakers in Sicily
A couple of weeks ago we had a short break in Sicily. As usual, before I travelled I looked to see if there were any local basketmakers or products. And as usual I read that basketmaking in Sicily is something of a dying art. So it was a bit of a surprise to run into […]
Inspired by Haeckel: eight samples
We’re now in the last term of the two-year City Lit Creative Basketry course and working on our pieces for our final assessment. These will form the basis of an exhibition at City Lit in July (like our degree show). Each student has to make five works: eight samples, a piece from soft materials, a […]
Fantastical Botanical at Morley Gallery
Exciting news: my bindweed spiral Unbound, which I made for last year’s Prism Textiles exhibition, is to get another outing. I’m very honoured to be asked, as an alumnus of Morley College, to include this piece, along with a couple of baskets, in the forthcoming Fantastical Botanical exhibition at Morley Gallery, 21 April – 4 […]
Untold: Prism Textiles exhibition now on
Untold, the latest Prism Textiles exhibition, is now open at the Art Pavilion in Mile End, east London. I installed “Brittle”, my woven bones, last Monday, laying out the bones on a piece of black acrylic that reflects the bones very effectively. The private view on Wednesday evening went very well, with an opening speech […]
Triaxial weaving and mad weave
For the past couple of weeks at City Lit we have been working on triaxial weaving. Unlike conventional weaving, which uses two axes at right angles to each other (warp and weft), this uses three axes, at 60º to each other – hence the name triaxial. It is also known as hexagonal weaving, but as […]
Brittle – update on work for Prism Textiles exhibition
Well, the Prism Textiles exhibition Untold is less than a month away and I’m still working on “Brittle”, my osteoporosis-inspired pieces. Taking it to the wire as usual! I have made progress, though, you will be pleased to hear. I had a load of oxtail bones that I originally thought I would try to add […]
Paper yarn and bones
I’m working a lot with paper yarn at the moment. It’s one of my favourite materials, very strong and grippy, with enough body to hold sculptural forms. The down side is that it can be quite unforgiving, with a tendency to kink and twist. But sometimes the twist can be channelled to create extra movement […]
Basketry: Rhythm, Renewal & Reinvention
This wonderful exhibition at Ruthin Craft Centre in north Wales, curated by Gregory Parsons, is the second basketry show they’ve had in the past couple of years. Apparently the first one was immensely popular. So here’s hoping that the image of basketry is on the up – about time! The exhibition certainly showcases the extraordinary […]
