Halfway between Catalogue - Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles

Halfway between …

THAMES VALLEY CONTEMPORARY TEXTILES

Halfway between …

Ask yourself ‘Halfway between what?’ and you may find yourself travelling in some very intriguing directions. The Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles group certainly did when it asked itself this question at the start of its latest project in September 2012. Since then the artists from the Bracknell-based group have been working on their own interpretations of this question.

The result is a varied and stimulating collection of pieces that explore the concept of ‘Halfway Between’. Some artists were inspired by landscapes, nature and folk tales. Others have created very personal interpretations that were stimulated by thoughts halfway between fantasy and reality, between conflicts and between life and death.

Ruth Archer

Between the Two Moons I N S P I R AT I O N The nickname for Wiltshire folk, where I was born and brought up, is Moonrakers, after an ancient local legend. The moon has always held a fascination for me. I remember as a Girl Guide, while studying for my stargazer’s badge, wondering why the moon appeared to change shape as it made its monthly trip around the night sky. This image of the moon’s orbit came to mind as I was thinking about the Halfway Between challenge, and so the idea for my piece emerged.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S The background velvet was dyed using Dyrect indigo dye. The moons were created using cotton, silk dupion and organza and then embellished with beads and machine embroidery.

51 x 89cm ruth@barwick-green.co.uk

Heather Brand

Emergence I N S P I R AT I O N

Michelangelo’s sculptures The Captives, (aka The Slaves) were my initial inspiration.

These half-completed sculpted bodies seem so vital, as if trying to free themselves from the solid rock. The suggested inner essence led me to other examples of associations between the physical and spiritual, such as cemetery and tomb art, where strong emotions are vividly expressed through crafted stone. A common theme of cemetery art is the partly shrouded human body. In Emergence I have combined elements of Captives with elements of Victorian cemetery sculpture. The featureless body is only halfformed, but rising from its elemental base, and emerging halfway between drapes and folds, indicative of a shroud.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S The body: layers of polyester wadding and filling, secured with heat mouldable fabric.

This procedure was repeated to build up the shape. Background: calico on felt wadding with a second layer of calico. Layers are secured with tucks and quilting. Shroud: Recycled nylon net curtain.

135 x 91cm heather_brand_uk@yahoo.co.uk

Dorothy Crossley

Cannock Chase I N S P I R AT I O N Walks on Cannock Chase, in the Midlands, inspired a woven tapestry hanging. The close-set trees, unfolding all around, suggested walking through undergrowth and patches of sunlight. The viewer is encouraged to enter the environment and look to see what is between the trees.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S This is a traditional tapestry wall hanging, woven using an upright loom with a cotton warp. Wool, wool mixtures, linen, cotton and man-made yarns were combined and often mixed together in the textured stitches. The textured stitches were Tabby Weave for the flat areas, Egyptian Knot for the tree trunks and Soumak and Rya for the textured canopy and undergrowth.

Additional wrapped elements add to the three dimensional effect.

112 x 84cm dorcrossley@gmail.com

Kate Crossley

Chrysalis

Kate Crossley

I N S P I R AT I O N

In the Beginning there was Void

This piece was a response to the title of the exhibition and developed directly from the group’s brainstorming session. The chrysalis, with its connotations of change, rebirth, life and death, seemed the ideal vehicle to carry my ideas in written form and in the placement of found and made objects.

The idea that, in order to have something between, there must be a beginning and an end point, struck me as significant. Beyond even that, there is no actual beginning and end, as everything becomes part of a great cycle.

This piece is evolved from the group’s brainstorming session and as a development of Chrysalis. A book, as a form in its own right, has much between its pages, ideas, stories, information, pictures and histories.

This lent itself to further exploration of the idea that in order to have something between, there must be a beginning and an end point. Beyond even that, there is no actual beginning and end, as everything becomes part of a great cycle.

I N S P I R AT I O N

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S

A fabric chrysalis was made in calico, stuffed and covered in cling film.

Then a plaster cast was taken from this.

From the plaster cast a latex mould was made in sections and then supported with plaster bandages.

Very thin layers of resin, coloured with fabric dye, were poured into the moulds to embed the stitching, paper and objects.

The sections were then joined together using more resin. In this piece I have used free machine embroidery, photo transfer to acetate, tissue paper, artist made artefacts, found objects and resin.

Latex moulds were taken from paving bricks to form the basic pages of the book.

The moulds were modified free hand to create the holes and slits needed for the later addition of fabric and thread. Very thin layers of resin, coloured with fabric dye, were poured into the moulds to embed the stitching, paper and objects. The page sections were joined together using fine wire. In this piece I have used free machine embroidery, stitched fabric strips and cords, photo transfer to acetate, artist made artefacts, found objects and resin.

24 x 62 x 12cm www.katecrossley.com

75 x 18 x 18cm www.katecrossley.com

Detail of piece

Ros Crouch

Lost

I N S P I R AT I O N Lines from Dante’s Inferno (trans. Carlyle 1884), describe being lost at the middle of his life in a dark wood. Dante’s poem is about a spiritual journey to find God. This bookwork allows for other interpretations.

It suggests getting lost in the structure of a book, in the design process, and more generally, of feeling oneself lost in life.

Wandering through the repetitious text rekindles the experience of going nowhere and seeking paths we would like to find.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S

Kate Crossley

Book at Bedtime I N S P I R AT I O N

Pages were constructed from painted abaca tissue bonded to pelmet Vilene, leaving a window of painted cutwork (burnt out with a soldering iron). They were machine stitched. Text and beading were added before being joined by faggoting.

15 x 10cm roscro@me.com

I adore being wrapped up in a book and love the cosy world between waking and dreaming. Both inspired this wall quilt. Individual books were hand made, representing dreams and flights of fancy that I have while in this ‘between’ state.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S In this piece I have used recycled silk and cotton, hand and machine embroidery, quilting, artist dyed fabrics, photo transfer, acid etching, artist made artefacts and found objects.

163 x 115cm www.katecrossley.com

Detail of piece

Jane Edmonds

Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars I N S P I R AT I O N

Sheila Dunscombe

Mediaeval Grids

My initial inspiration was a quote by Oscar Wilde and a song by Fat Boy Slim. The design and the hessian backdrop illustrate the struggle of humanity between earthiness and celestial longing. The figure is a simplified life drawing. Matisse’s cutouts inspired the figure and the large star. The elements of the gutter are bits of litter picked up while walking the dog. They are a solid mass of contemporary detritus, while the stars are airily scattered, some forming a small halo round the head.

I N S P I R AT I O N

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S

My first ideas were crosswords: the many done by my husband, the one previously done by my father and something 3D. Then, when I became more interested in mediaeval paving tiles, a friend suggested combining the two – halfway between a crossword and 3D paving tile. I asked my mother for a Daily Telegraph type clue, ‘fifty fifty’, and my husband for a cryptic one.

I liked these composite tiles, seen at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The reverse letters denote illiterate tile stamp cutters of the time, with ‘have mynde’ apparently spelled out on some church floors.

Figure, stars, rat and leaves were drawn, then cut out, and stitched where appropriate.

All were appliquéd by machine and hand stitching, as were the found objects. For embellishment I used some embroidery with threads and ribbons and buttons. The title is reverse imprint on wet emulsion.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S Grid lines were machined on to cotton background, reinforced with iron-on interlining. Hand copied foil letters were bonded then machined. Digital prints were made on treated cotton, and then laced over foam blocks, before being glued and stitched in place with invisible thread. The work was stapled over a canvas box frame with wadding in between.

30 x 30cm sheila.dunscombe@hotmail.co.uk

117 x 67cm jedmonds7@gmail.com

Jane Glennie

Two Trunks I N S P I R AT I O N

Kate Findlay

Pink Dawn I N S P I R AT I O N Last year I worked on a project inspired by the word liminality, which means threshold.

As I developed my ideas, I found that I was thinking about dawn and dusk, those rather mysterious states in between day and night.

It was a natural progression then to develop further pieces on this theme. For a while I have been experimenting with using fibre optics. I love the idea of adding dimension, which is not always visible, again suiting the in between theme. Adding lines of light, which change colour slowly, gives a wonderful atmospheric effect in a room with low-level lighting, and it is very soothing to watch.

Textured, thin, iridescent black structures – these were influenced by the trunks of pines in Swinley Forest, Berkshire after forest fire. Are the trunks living or dead? They are somewhere halfway between. If dead themselves, they are supporting visible life in the form of moss and lichen.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S Strands of video tape was spun and plyed with pure wool double knitting yarn. The resulting new yarn was then french knitted with more strands of video tape.

1m x 50cm x 250cm www.janeglennie.co.uk

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S The piece uses layers of sheers collaged on a dyed cotton background. It was hand stitched in place before being quilted by Karen Florey of ‘The Running Chicken’.

The fibre optic cable was added last and is powered by a colour changing LED strip.

61 x 91cm art.findlays.net

Detail of piece

Vivien Grant

Dawn

I N S P I R AT I O N My first thoughts of Halfway Between were of a night going through the transitional stages towards daylight, with dawn coming halfway between night and the expectation of what the day will bring.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S

Jane Glennie

Gravidity

I N S P I R AT I O N Pregnancy and the birth of children is a precarious journey, not quite life and, still today, potentially quite close to death. This piece is influenced by my emotions having endured three caesarian sections.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S Hand stitched boiled wool fabric. The torso is porcelain stuffed with a variety of threads.

The lettering is porcelain, moulded around letters and impressed with stitched muslin.

37 x 39 x 2cm www.janeglennie.co.uk

Foundation pieced with frayed raw edge strips for the crushed silk fabric, interspersed with layers of chiffon to show the effect of broken cloud, giving way to moonlight and early morning light, through to dawn and full daylight. Beads lighten the darkness of the sky. Rows of straight stitch quilting are across most of the piece, while the foreground was stitched diagonally giving more dimension to the hills. In the foreground, pieces of fabrics are overlaid with net, quilted with gold metallic thread and beaded. Herringbone machine stitch completes the quilting and gives the effect of tall grass.

81 x 40cm vivien.grant57@gmail.com

Annie Hamilton

My House is Halfway Between …

I N S P I R AT I O N I decided to map the position of my small house and my small town; in other words, the physical centre of my universe. For simplicity, the boundaries I chose are within Europe, but the direction arrows and the raw edges of the textile suggest the charting is timeless – ‘to infinity and beyond’.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S

Annie Hamilton

Halfway Between Reality and Fantasy I N S P I R AT I O N I wanted to make a book about the wood behind my home. By looking very closely at small areas of the ground, I could make out leaves, twigs, plant and small dark spaces that seemed to form odd creatures. I emphasised these in the drawings, keeping within the genre of fairytale illustration.

The squares on the background of my drawings are informed by my links to patchwork, and also to the pixelations that occur when an image is enlarged.

The work forms a traditional quilt, with a top, middle and an underneath. However, the materials that are used are revealed, as I chose not to finish off the borders with binding. The directional arrows are worked in running stitch and serve the purpose of quilting the three layers together. The rest of the stitching is machine embroidered.

117 x 117cm www.stitchpaintillustrate.com

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S The book cover was worked in tent stitch, a traditional tapestry stitch. It was an ideal medium for working the pixelations and it provided me with an enjoyable small project that I could work on numerous car, bus, train and plane journeys. The illustrations inside the book use watercolour, pencil, ink and gel pens. The T. S. Eliot quote is worked in machine embroidery.

17 x 15cm www.stitchpaintillustrate.com

Detail of piece

Gill Knight

Sunset into Night I N S P I R AT I O N

Merete Hawkins

Kraka

I N S P I R AT I O N The story of Kraka is from Norse Mythology.

The Viking King Regnar set her a riddle.

‘Come back in the morning unclothed, but not naked, unaccompanied by not alone, unfed but not fasting.’ When Kraka appeared at sunrise, her long hair was combed out. She was draped in a fishing net. Her dog was with her and she had bitten into an onion. As promised, King Regnar married her and they lived happily for many years. This hanging attempts to capture the story, with it being neither fabric nor lace. The symbols are all from Norse Mythology. The runes read, ‘Love conquers all; let us too yield to love.’

I started with the longest journey I had ever made, from Reading to Sydney. I then thought of what was in between – the Middle East. I looked at contemporary Middle Eastern art and found a picture I liked. This inspired the printing and colour choice of the top fabric. I have recently been inspired by the work of Karina Thompson.

Her technique appealed to me, as I like creating texture in my work. As I have also enjoyed the chenille technique in the past, I wanted to use it again. I chose to use purple and blue to contrast with orange, creating a feeling of night time.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S Cotton fabric was dyed twice to intensify the colour. The layers are composed of cotton, muslin, polyester sheer, Angelina and silk.

42 x 89cm gillian.knight@ntlworld.com

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S The hanging incorporates a mixture of techniques; screen printing, stencilling, machine stitching, embroidery and appliqué. The objects were all found on the beaches of the North Sea. 75 x 73cm hwkns_merete@yahoo.co.uk

Detail of piece

Margaret Ramsay

Fleet Mudflats I N S P I R AT I O N

My inspiration was the transitional intertidal zones, halfway between sea and shore along the Fleet (Dorset). By blending inkjet images of indigo shibori fabrics and photos of sand ripples, I altered them to look like indigo, combining them with the genuine article.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S

Cathy Park

Sky, Sea, Shore

I have used hand dyed threads, cotton and linen fabrics and African fabrics. Techniques used were indigo shibori dyeing, inkjet printing, free machine quilting and hand stitching.

58 x 106cm www.magsramsay.co.uk

I N S P I R AT I O N The starting point for my piece was some fabrics I had dyed with indigo and potassium permanganate. Whilst the space-dyed effects were lovely, none of the colours were as definite as I’d have liked. They were ‘Halfway Between’ what I wanted and what I liked! Putting together the fabrics, the feeling of a seascape came to mind.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S Incorporating cottons, linen, silks and wool, fabrics were collaged together over a layer of wadding and various embroidery stitches and beading used to attach the layers together.

64 x 53cm cathy.stitchin9@ntlworld.com Detail of piece

Marion Robertson

Rock Pools at Nairn I N S P I R AT I O N My inspiration is a photo of the beach at Nairn. I chose part of the beach where there are rock pools, as I have happy memories of playing there as a child, and also of my children playing there. For me the rock pools are neither land nor sea but sometimes they are both.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S I began by joining long strips of hand dyed blue and textured cream silk. This gave me a base of sea and sand. I built up the piece by layering torn strips of rusted and hand dyed cotton and sheers. These were either hand stitched or machine stitched onto the cotton and silk base. I added texture with hand stitching, pieces of silk laps and silk tops. For the waves I used Markal and free machining.

40 x 60cm marionandgordon@hotmail.com

Mavis Roles

Seeds of Compromise I N S P I R AT I O N My first inspiration, at the initial meeting, was of something halfway between lines or pleats. But at home, thinking about the assignment, whilst the news of various conflicts around the world was playing in the background, I felt motivated to reflect the unease that I felt at the lies and deceit fuelling conflict. Where was the unbiased truth? I thought about compromise that truth is the first casualty of war and meeting differences ‘halfway between’. Faded memories of the borders between East and West Germany influenced the barbed wire and observation towers in the piece. If there is to be understanding and truth, there should be honesty, hence the flowers and seed of the honesty plant.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S The piece is based on traditional quilt techniques; using mainly cotton fabrics, hand stitched embellishments and quilting.

I have included needle turned appliqué, fused appliqué, couching, stem stitch, blanket and beading.

32 x 44cm mavis.roles@ntlworld.com

Delia Salter

View from the Bridge I N S P I R AT I O N Leaning over the side of a bridge, there is something caught in the turbulent water below is how I have interpreted this monoprint. From a bridge that links one side to another you are halfway between, not quite in one place or in the other. From the solidarity of a bridge to the precariousness of the water, you are halfway between the two conditions.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S A monoprint on paper was scanned to the computer and then printed on inkjet transfer paper, before being ironed onto brushed cotton. I then included torn black chiffon and hand stitch.

33 x 43cm delia.salter@o2.co.uk

Christine Seager

Through the Lock Gates I N S P I R AT I O N We spend a lot of time on the canals in England: sometimes in beautiful countryside and sometimes in derelict industrial sites.

Both have their charm. During travels on our boat, I work the lock gates. Many are in bad repair and leak badly. This piece reflects the derelict state of the wood and the water that so often pours between the gates.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S This piece is made of black commercial fabric; black fabric discharged with Jacquard discharge and rusted sheets. It is improvisionally cut and pieced and then machine quilted.

90 x 53cm www.chrisse.co.uk

Frances Self

Dusk, Darkness and Dawn I N S P I R AT I O N This triptych was inspired by images and experiences dealing with a long stay in hospital with a critical illness. The ‘in between’ of life and death and then the endless nights and days seen through my hospital window, through which I could just see a tree. The pieces reflect my favourite images. Dusk is the uncertainty of diagnosis.

Darkness represents an endless stay in ICU. Dawn is the realisation of a future.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S Fabrics were dyed and painted. Then they were pieced and machine quilted.

Triptych: each panel 89 x 39cm fran_self2000@hotmail.com

Sandy Snowden

Cloud Puppy I N S P I R AT I O N

My piece is halfway between imagination and reality. An Oriental creature inspired it. To me he looked like a puppy made of clouds. I thought he would be great depicted playing in the wispy atmosphere of an imaginary planet.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S I have used fused raw edge appliqué, free motion embroidery and quilting.

70 x 99cm sandysnowden.blogspot.co.uk

Detail of piece

Carol Wilkes

Absolutes I N S P I R AT I O N

I started with a rectangle and kept halving until I had a pattern that pleased me.

Colours are harder to cut in half with black and white at the extremes and all other colours existing between them. Words are hardest of all to find the mid-point for – we can all agree on the absolutes but who can say what lies halfway between them?

The final challenge was to make the piece somewhere between 2D and 3D.

M AT E R I A L S & T E C H N I Q U E S Background: strip piecing using, mostly, my own hand dyed fabrics. Front: black and white triangles with aluminium wire mesh sandwiched in between. Free machine quilting. Constructed using quilt-as-you go.

61cm x 91cm carol.wilkes2008@btinternet.com

Detail of piece

Clare Williams

Imaginarium I N S P I R AT I O N ‘Halfway between the real and the unreal is the surreal’. I have thought for some time that if you can find, halfway between the mundane and the necessary, that flash of delight, excitement or wonder, then your life will be enriched. Brainstorming led me to things that are neither one thing nor another; or perhaps are both, e.g. travelling theatre. The combination of travelling theatre and surreal reminded me of ‘The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus’, a fantasy opus based in London. ‘An imaginarium is a place to go for your imagination – to let it flower, let it grow, let it take you places.’

M AT E R I A L S A N D T E C H N I Q U E S I manipulated my own photos using Photoshop, printed them and layered them with pelmet Vilene and three different fabrics to produce the panels. Free hand machine embroidery decorated one side of each panel. I used a heat gun to zap the top (synthetic) layer to expose lower layers. A combination of zigzag machine embroidery and hand sewing joined the panels to form a box. The hand from a watch is the closure.

22 x 24 x 13 cm clarewillsew@gmail.com

Halfway between …

AN EXHIBITION BY THAMES VALLEY CONTEMPORARY TEXTILES

Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles is diverse in its interests and choice of materials. The techniques on show in the collection include quilting, appliqué, embroidery, weaving, knitting, and a variety of surface design and dyeing techniques. There are pieces large and small, as well as 3-dimensional work. Materials range from traditional cottons and silks to resin and upcycled video tape.

Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles group began in 2009.

It aims to stimulate the creative practice of its members by exploring contemporary textiles in its widest definition. This happens through talks and workshops from artists from both inside and outside the textile sphere as well as experiences shared between members.

This is the second exhibition by the group. Their first, ‘Whatever floats your boat…’, was developed in collaboration with the Slough Museum and toured in 2011/12.

Spring Knitting & Stitching Show Olympia, London, 13–16 March 2014 www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com National Needlework Archive (NNA) Newbury, Berkshire 19 March to 30 April 2014 (Saturday opening 5th April) www.nationalneedleworkarchive.org.uk

THAMES VALLEY CONTEMPORARY TEXTILES www.tvctextiles.co.uk