Alice Kettle, ThreadBound by Candida Stevens Gallery

ALICE KETTLE

threadbound

ALICE KETTLE threadbound 16 October - 12 November 2021

12 Northgate, Chichester West Susssex PO19 1BA 07794 416569 info@candidastevens.com www.candidastevens.com @candida_stevens 3

Alice Kettle Exhibition ThreadBound Stitch as Creativity Textiles was a founding subject at Manchester School of Art, at Manchester Metropolitan University, and has remained an area of real strength throughout the Art and Design portfolio. As Pro Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, I am immensely proud of the ground breaking work in textiles, particularly the creation of stunning stitched textiles which include using coproduction methodologies through the medium of stitch. In a faculty of arts and humanities, where working across disciplines and co-production with communities are key strengths, the work of Alice Kettle has inspired others, not only in the Art School but across the wider faculty. Her approach illustrates the fundamental role of creativity in engaging with the intimate notions of identity and broader contemporary socio-political debates in an inspirational and sensitive way. Her work inspires and challenges people in galleries around the world by exploring what it means to be human, particularly at times of challenge, communicating individual stories through stitch in ways that foster empathy. Alice’s work explores the human condition, with a particular focus on the female condition, through stitch. This is important work in contexts where the female condition is still often underrepresented. Her approach reveals the power of creativity and stitch to explore individual human stories behind generic narratives, fostering empathy for the plight of individuals within a context of conflict, through the pandemic and the importance of our relationship to the environment in the light of global change.

Professor Sharon Handley | Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor | Arts & Humanities | Manchester Metropolitan University

For centuries humans have exchanged flowers as an expression of the entire emotional range and throughout art history they have been symbolic. People have long imbued flowers with personal, cultural, and religious significance and creatives have been drawn to them for their evocative qualities, “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment,” Georgia O’Keeffe. In a departure from earlier works where the human figure often dominated, here it is the relationship between people and nature that takes centre stage. In these artworks, flowers are companion, inspiration and subject. This is both a reference to the larger contemporary issue of the human impact on the environment and the personal lived experience of an artist. Made between March 2020 and September 2021, a period of global pandemic, these artworks address the experience of being home bound and are consistent with the reaction of being preoccupied by one’s immediate surroundings. At home in Somerset with a studio overlooking an everchanging garden, these flowers were symbolic of the passing of time, progress. The work is about balance, the reciprocal relationship between human and nature. There is no dominance of humanity, the figure and the flower become blended, they are negotiating their relationship with each other and with their environment. The artist’s strong belief in the importance of creating a world in which we coexist harmoniously with nature is evident here: human faces morph with flowers, figures emerge from the plants. In others the lines between person and flower become blurred or fractured and the work becomes abstracted. “Alliances were sealed, allegiances sworn and passages to heaven bargained for with textiles” (Schoeser, 2012). I have no doubt the same could be said for flowers, and here Kettle skilfully combines the practice for which she is internationally known with a timely consideration for our significance in the earth’s evolution. Alice’s work draws references from the history of figurative textiles and monumental narrative tapestry. In her role as Professor at Manchester School of Art, Alice Kettle has researched the meeting place of traditional analogue stitching skills and digitised contemporary methodologies. She has developed a unique practice, creating textile works which employ a combination of stitch techniques, combining the use of antique machines from early last century with hand stitch and contemporary digital technology. Stitch is a method of repetition, coverage and endlessness, a bit like the circularity of the seasons. Candida Stevens, 2021 7

Adam and Eve 2020 Thread and beads on printed canvas 260 x 220 cm Each panel 260 x 90 cm 8

Flower Dress, 2021 Thread on linen 249 x 142 cm 10

Star Flowers, 2021 Thread on linen 220 x 144 cm 12

Hair Washing, 2021 Thread on linen 166 x 144 cm 14

Fern, 2021 Thread on linen 159 x 144 cm 16

Daisy, 2021 Thread on linen 144 x 115 cm 18

With Flower Heads, 2021 Thread on linen 71 x 139 cm 20

Singing Blooms, 2021 Thread on linen 96.5 x 127.5 cm 22

Two Heads, 2021 Thread on linen 39.5 x 60 cm 23

Talking Flowers, 2021 Thread on linen 68.5 x 65 cm 24

Single Flower, tribute, 2021 Thread on linen 40 x 40 cm 25

Flower Head 1, 2021 Thread on linen 44.5 x 39 cm 26

Flower Head 2, 2021 Thread on linen 41.5 x 46 cm 27

Four Flowers, 2021 Thread on linen 56 x 51 cm 28

With Flowers, 2021 Thread on linen 82 x 54 cm 29

Queen Flower, 2021 Thread on linen 83 x 53 cm 30

Garden, 2021 Thread on linen 48 x 45 cm 31

Seed Heads, 2021 Thread on linen 40 x 34 cm 32

Holding Flower, 2021 Thread on linen 73 x 55 cm 33

Anna, 2021 Thread on linen 41 x 29.5 cm 34

Mary, 2021 Thread on linen 39 x 30 cm 35

Alice Kettle is currently Professor of Textile Arts, MIRIAD, Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University Education: 1979–84 University of Reading BA Hons Fine Art 1985–86 Goldsmiths’ College Postgraduate Diploma in Textile Art with special commendation 2014 Manchester School of Art, MMU PhD student Selected Solo Exhibitions: 2020 Within Each Other, Portraits of Ourselves, Candida Stevens Gallery, Islington 2018 Thread Bearing Witness, The Whitworth, Manchester 2017 Alice Kettle, Threads, Winchester Discovery Centre 2017 Alice Kettle, More Threads, Candida Stevens Gallery 2016 Alice Kettle, Prazeres Gallery, Madeira Island 2015 Here and Now, Circus performance Alice Kettle, Circus and CAA Gallery, London 2014 Alice Kettle Odyssey, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester 2013 The Garden of England, The Queens House, The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 2012 LOSS at Chichester Cathedral 2012 Alice Kettle, ANU School of Art, Australia 2012 The Shape of Touch, Merston Gallery 2010 Telling Fortunes, Platt Hall, Museum of Costume, Manchester 2009/11 Allegory Craft Study Centre, Farnham and tour; Dorchester Museum; The Gallery in the Bay Cardiff; Farfield Mill Sedburgh; The Willis Museum Basingstoke 2009 A Pause in the Rhythm of Time, Belger Arts Centre, Kansas City, Surface Design Association, USA 2006 Salisbury Arts Centre 2003-5 Mythscapes : Bankfield Museum, Halifax; Touring to Birmingham; The Gallery, Ruthin Craft Centre; Southampton City Art Gallery; Hove Museum and Art Gallery; Brewery Arts, Kendal; South Hill Park, Bracknell; Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum; Grace Barrand Design Centre, Surrey, Myles Meehan Gallery, Darlington; Harley Gallery, Worksop 2003 Featured Artist, The Knitting and Stitching Show, London, Dublin and Harrogate 2002 Newbury Spring Festival 1992 Salisbury Playhouse 1991 Galerie Filambule, Lausanne, Switzerland 1990 My Eyes, Your Hands, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal 1990 Alice Kettle – Showcase, ICA, London 1988 Oxford Gallery Selected recent group exhibitions: 2020 2020 2020 2019 2019 2019 2017 2015 2011 2008 2003

Untitled 2020; Punta della Dogana, Venice Fabric, Touch and Identity, Compton Verney, Warwickshire Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles, Two Temple Place, London Horizontal Crossings, Hanshan Art Museum, China Karachi Biennale, Pakistan British Textile Biennale, Lancashire Rijswijk Textile Biennial, The Hague VAST, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh The Narrative Line, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny The Fabric of Myth, Compton Verney, Warwickshire Masterpieces; Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin

Public Collections: Ararat Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia Belger Collection, Kansas City USA Calderdale MBC: Museums and Arts Crafts Council of Great Britain Hampshire Museums Services Hove Museum & Art Gallery Liverpool International Slavery Museum Manchester City Art Gallery, (ceramic collaboration with Alex McErlain) Museo Internationale delle Arti Applicate Oggi, Turin, Italy Museum of Decorative Art and Design, Riga, Latvia Platt Hall Gallery of Costume. Manchester Portsmouth City Art Gallery Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead Special Collections Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University (ceramic collaboration with Alex McErlain) Southampton City Art Gallery St Mary’s College, Baltimore, USA The Otter Art Gallery, University College Chichester The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester The Embroiderers’ Guild The Prudential Collection The Broadgate Club, London. The Embroiderers’ Guild, NSW, Australia York Castle Museum Gallery (ceramic collaboration with Alex McErlain) A full biography can be found online at www.candidastevens.com

With many thanks to all the contributors. Published by Candida Stevens Gallery on the occasion of ThreadBound September 2021 Photography by Dan Stevens © Alice Kettle, Candida Stevens Gallery