Colours, Journeys and Landscapes It is Jilly Edwards’s individual ‘vision’, her particular insights and responses to emotions and memories, to colours, journeys and landscapes – these vital elements of the human experience – which the skill and artistry of her craftsmanship transmute and interpret in her tapestries. This retrospective collection of Edwards’ weavings mounted by Ruthin Craft Centre enables us to see how characterising thematic strands occur in her work, and how these motifs traverse time and distance to re-appear in fresh interpretations. We can follow the confluence of developments, the changes thus effected and the emergence of new themes. Alongside the weavings in this exhibition are the journals, sketches and finished drawings – these are not just aide-mémoires, but essential factors in Edwards’ creative process. She empties her mind into the journals while travelling, and has written that ‘my “journeying” feels like a spiral movement, a cultural journey and daily task; enhancing the thoughts and ideas that become the finished work.’1
Bundu Stones, 1998 Cotton warp. Wool, cotton, linen weft. 70cm x 120cm Private collection
Bundu Stones 2, 2000 Cotton warp. Wool, cotton, linen weft. 12cm x 15cm
Sacred Stones, 1999 Cotton warp. Wool, cotton, linen weft. 12cm x 15cm
Also being shown are the grid-like structures which Edwards assembles from small sectional boxes of transparent Perspex and in which she devises installations. These are titled Traveller’s Samples, a name which refers to the childhood expeditions she made with her father who was a travelling salesman. The individual appeal of the objects can be appreciated, each isolated within a separate ‘frame’, while a wider viewpoint, shows these shells, stones, tins, woven strips and words functioning as contributors to the creation of a larger whole. Edwards calls these installations ‘the bigger stories’ of the strip-weavings which she started making after visiting Japan in 2002. In the latter, every segment is
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