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February 15, 2024 In Exhibitions, Textile Art

Outi Pieski at Tatę St Ives

Images from the top Outi Pieski, Beavvit – Rising Together II, 2021; Portrait by Heikki Tuuli, Rástegáisa lágalaš riektesubjeaktan II Sacred Mountain Rástegáisa as a Legal Person I, 2018; Photo Jussi Tiainen; Golleeana Land of Gold, 2013. © Ella Tommila EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art; Silbajohka Silver River, 2014. Photo Jussi Tiainen; Skabmavuoddu – Spell on Me!

There is no question that galleries are increasingly featuring fine artists who use textiles as their medium. You still have to seek it out though which makes it such a rewarding experience when you visit a textile exhibition. Tate St Ives has just opened Outi Pieski’s first large-scale exhibition in the UK. I haven’t seen Outi’s work before and to see it together in such a beautiful environment made it even more special. Her art is not only visually astounding but has so much to say.

Outi is an artist and an activist. Much of her work revolves around the environment and inhabitants of her homeland of Sapmi. This is an area in the Arctic Circle divided between Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia where the Indigenous Sami have lived for hundreds of years. Outi’s work explores issues including elements of Sami culture that have been lost, and highlights how developments, proposed or otherwise, impact the Sami homelands and Indigenous people’s rights.

Acrylic landscape paintings have a mesmerising dream-like quality that is beautiful with an eerie undertone. They convey nature as a living, spiritual force and framing the canvases with hand knotted tassels used on traditional Sami shawls reminds you that people survive and thrive in these landscapes. Their culture, heritage and land need to be protected.

What Outi calls ‘three dimensional pieces’ take centre stage. Outi’s largest installation has been shown around the world, and when you experience it you can see why. The bonus of this exhibition is a new piece created for the show during a residency at Tate St Ives, the colours of which hint at the Cornish environment.

With all of the conflict in the world, this burst of colour, the skill of the handmade and the uplifting ‘three dimensional pieces,’ left me feeling a little more optimistic. With artists like Outi PIeski, issues do not go unnoticed and bring awareness to those who are looking.

Outi Pieski is exhibiting at Tate St Ives until 6th of May 2024. https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-st-ives

https://www.outipieski.com/. https://www.instagram.com/outipieski/

January 29, 2024 In Uncategorized

Jakkai Siributr exhibition

Exhibition view: Jakkai Siributr: Everybody Wanna Be Happy, CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile), Hong Kong, 2023

If you are in Hong Kong you’ll be able to visit a retrospective of one of my favourite textile artists. Jakkai Siributr: Everybody Wanna Be Happy is currently exhibiting at the Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile.

Covering work from over two decades, it shows the diverse range of his work both aesthetically and conceptually. Tackling themes of Buddhism in his native Thailand, political issues, materialism and more recently the role of family, this exhibition gives pause for thought through exquisite pieces of textile art.

Jakkai Siributr: Everybody Wanna Be Happy is on show until 13th February 2024. To find out more visit https://www.mill6chat.org/

September 14, 2023 In Art

Inquiry about Forgotten Birds Collection

Last year I featured Iranian artist Tina Rouhandeh on Instagram and details of a piece from her forthcoming exhibition ‘Inquiry about Forgotten Birds.’ Tina is now based in Canada but she still has a deep connection with her homeland. Inquiry about Forgotten Birds is now complete and is a collection of work about human rights violations in Iran since 2018. Growing up with discrimination of Iranian Baha’i community she “witnessed how discrimination and injustice increased until [it] covered the entire society, causing an undeniable feeling of suffocation and uncertainty about the future”

Comprising of five main works, each piece took at least seven month each to create. Many of the art woks are created using bullion stitches, a technique twisting a thread around a needle several times before inserting it into the fabric. There are 3.500 stitches in one piece. “Each stitch represents one individual, and each twist around the needle signifies the prayers of their loved ones for them.”

Inquiry about Forgotten Birds is exhibiting at Art Windsor Essex, Ontario until October 1st. To find out more visit http://www.tinarouhandeh.com/

https://artwindsoressex.ca/exhibitions/tina-rouhandeh-inquiry-about-forgotten-birds/

September 4, 2023 In Exhibitions, Textile Art

Michele Landel Exhibition

Images: Nobody #5; Nobody #6; Self Portrait #8; Gather a few Stones, all photograph, fabric, thread and varnish, 2023.

Michele Landel is an American textile artist who has lived in Sèvres, France since 2005. Watering the Stones is a collection of work from a residency she experienced earlier this year in the desert mountains of Spain. The area was so quiet she “discovered the soft sounds of nature, the clean colour palette of the land, and the engaging beauty of the place.”

The work centres on organic and non organic items such as discarded sticks and a broken watering can she found in the fields. Michele took photos combing human and natural debris creating poetic images which she printed and quilted onto bedsheets. Bedding is an item signifying comfort, resting and healing the images take on a soulful quality. “On the bedding, the forms and shapes become sensual and soulful. The material activates tactile memories.”

Watering the Stones by Michele Landel is exhibiting from 15th – 30th September at Le Salon Vert and is part of the first Geneva Art Week. For more information visit www.salonvert.ch.and www.michelelandel.com

August 28, 2023 In Art, Textile Art

Tapestry meets Architecture

Under the Milky Way tonight … by Multiplicity

Counterpoint by Adjacency Studio

Fata Morgana by Yiling Shen and Yuchen Gao

Solstice by Beth George and Emerald Wise

Once Upon a Time by Studio Orsi

I’ve just returned from a holiday in Australia and one thing I love is the large-scale tapestries adorning public buildings. Tapestries hang in government buildings in the capital and even my local library when I lived in Sydney. Many of these are created by The Australian Tapestry Workshop (the ATW) which has woven contemporary tapestries since 1976. Their weavings aren’t just limited to public spaces in Australia. They have found their way to public buildings around the world including in Singapore, France and Bombay.

The ATW has lots of events in its calendar including The Tapestry Design Prize 2023 for Architects. Now in its fifth year, this prize encourages “innovation and visionary thinking by challenging architects to design contemporary tapestries.” Offering a $10,000 prize it attracts entries from Australian and international practices. This year the brief was to create a tapestry for the award-winning Bundanon Art Museum.

For professionals who dedicate their careers to designing spaces that often appear like a work of art, seeing their rendering of potential tapestries that introduce softness to angular buildings is fascinating. Some entries such as Once Upon and Time by Studio Orsi use the image as a canvas. Others including Jesse Osadczuk with Under the milky way tonight.. hang within the gallery space to become an almost immersive experience. Here are a few of the finalists and I’ll let you know the winner when it’s announced in early September.

The Tapestry Design Prize for Architects 2023 is generously supported by Metal Manufactures Limited, Architecture Media and Creative Victoria. To find out more visit https://www.austapestry.com.au/

August 6, 2023 In Textile Art

Joyful Embroidery course with Fleur Woods

It has never been easier to learn a skill or brush up on techniques online

Creating textile art can be a very personal journey. The time it takes, the slow reveal and the meditative quality of the practice all allow you to retreat into your own creative world. When the basics are mastered it is possible to pick up techniques by trial and error. So when I was offered the chance to take an online course I was interested to see what it involved.

Fibre Arts Take Two features beautifully filmed in depth courses by professional artists. I was drawn to ‘Joyful Embroidery,’ by New Zealand contemporary embroidery artist Fleur Woods. This was partly as I love her colourful work, and partly from curiosity to see how an embroidery course could hold my attention.

Aiming to demystify the process, Fleur has created ‘the course she wished she had when she was starting out,’ and what a great course it is. Fleur takes you through basics including how to do certain stitches and how long your thread should be, to elements that help more experienced stitchers such as dying fabrics, creating compositions and layering your work.

Split into 10 modules with bonus material, each topic is divided into easy to delve in sections. These include Punch Needle Textures, Collaging with Textures and there are also recorded Q & A sections. If you are feeling isolated in your practice or you want to connect with others you can share your work on the global Facebook community.

As well as filming in the studio it shows Fleur in the stunning New Zealand landscape and the combination is both informative and relaxing. For some modules I took notes or picked up little tips, others I had on the background while I created my own work. Fleur is a great teacher and is so open and keen to share ideas at the end of the course you almost feel like you are old friends.

Fibre Arts Take Two release courses at different times of the year covering a range of genres. If you’re looking for a professionally filmed and produced online experience with eight weeks of tutor interaction, live Q&A’s, and lifetime access, Joyful Embroidery is worth the investment. You’ll find elements to introduce into your practice, or if you are completely new to a topic it really can give you the skills and confidence you need to begin your textile art journey and flourish.

https://www.fibreartstaketwo.com/courses/fleurwoods/

https://www.fleurwoodsart.com/

July 3, 2023 In Art, Exhibitions, Textile Art

Murray Gibson Tapestry Exhibition

Clockwise from above: Arachne, 2016, 57 x 60 cm, created with funding from an Arts Nova Scotia Creation Grant. The Lady of Shalott, 2008, 60 x 60 cm. Valkyrie: Web of War, 2018, 47 x 177 cm created with funding from an Arts Nova Scotia Creation Grant. Brier Rose: Nightmare, 2021, 50 x 75 cm. All wool and cotton.

As some of you may know I studied tapestry weaving so am fully aware of the patience and slight obsession that comes with this art form. Curves and shading are particularly time consuming so I am in awe of Canadian artist Murray Gibson. You can see some of his meticulously woven tapestries in a new exhibition.

Cloth & Consequence. Tapestries that explore the intersections of textile practice with destiny and fate, with life and death is exhibiting at St. Francis Xavier University Art Gallery in Nova Scotia until September 16th 2023.

https://www.murraygibsontapestry.com

https://www.instagram.com/murraygibsontapestry/

https://www.mystfx.ca/art-gallery/home

May 29, 2023 In Textile Art

Queer Threads exhibition is back

Those of you who have been following Textile Curator for a while may remember a blog a few years ago about Queer Threads, crafting identity and community by John Chaich. Well good news, the exhibition is back. This evolving project is “an intergenerational, intersectional mix of contemporary LGBTIQIA+ artists who are pushing the boundaries of fiber and textile traditions.”

Featuring work by 37 artists that date from 1971 to this year, it is currently exhibiting over four galleries at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in California. Covering many generes of textile art such as crochet, quilting and stitch the work explores themes such as history and futurity, physicality and spirituality, vulnerability and sercurity and more. All while ‘position[ing] queerness within the history of domestic crafts and fiber arts.’ These are some of my favourite pieces.

Richard-Jonathan Nelson Foolish to believe this is their future when we’ve only just arrived, 2020. Digital collage on cotton, applique, embroidery, piecework. 95 x 102 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Jovencio de la Paz Bent Pyramid (1.1), 2022. Handwoven, Jacquard textile and cotton. 62 x 62 x 1.5 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles.

Ricki Dwyer, First Impressions, 2020. Cotton, dye, steel, aluminum, ball chain, plinth. 48 x 42 x 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist

Diedrick Brackens summer somewhere (for Danez), 2020. Woven cotton and acrylic yarn. 100 x 105 inches. © Diedrick Brackens. Private collection. Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

dani lopez Tryin’ to hold it together, 2022. Handwoven cotton, novelty yarn, and metallic tinsel foil fringe. 73 in x 50 inches. Courtesy of the artist

Kang Seung Lee Untitled (The Future Perfect), 2021. Antique 24k gold thread embroidery on Sambe, fossil leaves, meteorites, copper, ceramic vessel (California clay mixed with soils from Tapgol Park, Namsan Park, Prospect Cottage), and dried flowers from Homie Garden.Installation 106.2 x72 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Hyundai, Seoul

Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community is exhibiting at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles until August 20th 2023. https://www.sjquiltmuseum.org

May 1, 2023 In Uncategorized

Magdalena Abakanowicz Exhibition

A few weeks ago I finally made to the epic exhibition of Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. One of Poland’s most successful artists, Magdalena transformed weaving from two dimensions into sculptures and was a pioneer for art installations. This is the first major exhibition of her work in the UK since 1975. Her Abakans are towering soft woven sculptures and you can walk around them and feel truly immersed in their environment.

As you would expect from Tate Modern, this is an incredibly thorough exhibition. You can watch interviews with Magdalena explaining her ethos, showing her weaving and the sculptures in situ over the decades. A timeline wall explains her artistic journey and gives you a full picture of the amount of her work and dedication. Personally it was really interesting to see how her work developed from more conventional 2 dimensional wall hanging tapestries to her Abakans. It’s also a reminder how colours come in and out of fashion. The rich autumnal colours are now back in vogue so despite their age seem new.

Everyone I know who had visited the exhibition loved it so I was full of high expectations. As we all know art is subjective and while I admire the skill, impact and lets be honest the sheer logistics of weaving pieces on this scale they didn’t make my heart sing. Other people viewing the exhibition seemed captivated but I felt oddly detached from the experience. But isn’t this the point of art? It is all about how you connect with a piece which makes it such a powerful medium. However you feel about Magdalena’s work this is definitely an exhibition to experience but hurry it finishes on May 21st.

Magdalena Abakanowicz Every Tangle of Rope and Thread is on until 21st of May at Tate Modern

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/magdalena-abakanowicz

April 24, 2023 In Art, Design

Beyond the Streets exhibition

Sources of inspiration are different for everyone and I’m taking a rare break from the world of textile art to share details of a Street Art and Graffiti exhibition. If you’re looking for inspiration for your practice or just want to surround yourself a brilliant dose of creativity I thoroughly recommend visiting BEYOND THE STREETS LONDON at the Saatchi Gallery.

Featuring over 100 artists from cities around the globe, it is immaculately exhibited over three floors – an impressive 70,000 square feet! Names of artists you instantly recognise (such as Keith Haring) to unknown gems show their skills and originality through paintings, photographs and installations.

Besides the art work itself, the curation by graffiti historian Roger Gastman is exceptional. A wall of images of hundreds of subway trains, a room where QR codes cover the floor and walls and a pop up record store where you can step back in time and pay an old favourite record all create memorable experiences. There are also some pieces such as a neon acrylic mural by Maya Hayuk that would make sensational quilts.

By taking street art into a world renowned gallery it is arguably impossible not to make street art into a corporate and established genre. But put this thought to one side, immerse yourself in a world of colour, graphics and history and you’ll have a great time.

BEYOND THE STREETS LONDON runs until 9th May 2023 at Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Road, London, SW3 4RY.