Lace Unveiled: Lucy Brown

Lace Unveiled: Lucy Brown the secrets we keep from ourselves, 2012 Hand-dyed Nottingham Leavers lace ribbon (manufactured by Douglas Gill), vintage garments Lucy Brown has used second-hand clothes in her work for some time, wearing them first to get a sense of their history, before deconstructing and re-weaving them in to something new. A few years ago, she began to cut the weaving loose from its loom, allowing it to spread its tendrils across the room.

This particular work emerged from visits to Nottingham City Museums and Galleries’ lace collection. It incorporates hand-dyed Nottingham Leavers lace ribbon and garments sourced from local charity shops, eBay and the artist’s own wardrobe. It reflects Brown’s interest in 19th and 20th century photographs of Nottingham lace workers, which typically show women sitting close together, each checking and mending flaws in machine-made lace. Brown was struck by how the textiles in the photographs were ‘a physical point of connection between the women… their hands moving thread and fabric, heads bent, skirts touching.’

Through its use of lingerie, the piece also explores Brown’s interest in the semi-transparent qualities of lace and the way in which it both conceals and reveals. The work fills Lord Byron’s Dressing Room and its looping forms seem to hold a memory of the artist’s movements, as if she had been threading a giant lace machine ready for production.

The Lace Unveiled exhibition is part of Lace Unravelled, a season of events to celebrate Nottingham City Museums and Galleries’ world-class lace collection and Nottingham’s machine-made lace heritage.

Collection of Nottingham City Museums and Galleries