British artist Laura Thomas works from her studio in South Wales encapsulating threads into solid forms. Combining the softness of threads with acrylic creates a tension between the transparent object and the textural nature of the woven material that you are never able to touch. She describes her work as ‘exploration of colour and line through inventive use of structure and materials.’

What is your background in textiles?

From a young age I knew that I would be an artist/designer when I grew up. I loved drawing, painting, making things, sewing and embroidery. As a teenager I became rather obsessed with typography and so I thought my future lay in graphic design. Whilst on my Foundation Course in Art and Design at Carmarthen School of Art, the textiles pathway was led by the wonderful Julia Griffiths Jones and she opened my eyes to textiles being something rather unexpected. I also quickly realized I preferred the hands-on making in the textiles projects rather than the somewhat dryer graphic design briefs. I opted to undertake a degree in textiles at the University of Central England (Birmingham City University) planning to focus on embroidery. But before specializing, we had to spend four weeks in each textile department, and the weave workshop was a revelation to me. I loved seeing the floor-to-ceiling shelves encircling the room, full with yarns of every texture and colour. Whilst it took me a rather long time to get my head around the technicalities of weaving, I immediately adored the potential to explore colour, structure and texture in an instinctive way and so the die was set. After achieving a first class degree, I went on to the Royal College of Art to do an MA in Woven Textiles and then to The Ann Sutton Foundation to do two year Weave Design Research Fellowship.

What is it about textiles that appeals to you?

I love the concept of transforming an inert single thread into a cloth of infinite variety. Ann Sutton once described weaving to me as ‘soft engineering’ which I think is a brilliant way of summing up the weave process. The idea of building a cloth in a myriad of ways will keep me busy and absorbed for a lifetime. 

How do you describe your work?

I have worked in many different ways in my career to date: I’m not easy to pigeon hole. However, I think the continuum throughout all this work is my exploration of colour and line through inventive use of structure and materials. I always aim to create visual impact and spark the curiosity of the viewer.

I’d love to know more about putting your work in acrylic.

This body of work has what might be seen as a rather surprising starting point. Back in 2005, after working on some high-specification contract upholstery design projects, my mind wandered to considering how I could make ultra-delicate textile structures robust enough to sit on. I arrived at the idea to laminate textiles in between layers of acrylic and then vacuum form them into seats. I secured some R&D funding from Cywaith Cymru – Artworks Wales to explore this idea as a work-based residency. After being awarded the funding in principle, I then had to find a business in Wales that I could do the residency with, and in this time before everything was online, I sat down with the telephone directory and phoned everyone in Wales that had anything to do with acrylic fabrication without any success. I was eventually pointed towards Hafod Grange a company that made polyester resin paperweights encapsulating real flowers, and they generously agreed to host my R&D residency. The scale and planned output had to change: so instead of exploring lamination and furniture, I shrunk my ideas down to paperweight size and learnt about resin encapsulation of textiles. Over the course of a year, I fully learnt the process from mixing the resin to sanding and polishing the final outcome.

In time, I had to move on to working with another company to allow me to scale up my ideas, and also transfer to working with acrylic resin instead of polyester resin to give me greater optical clarity. This kind of resin casting is not something I would ever be able to do in my textile studio as highly specialized equipment is required and the casting needs to be done in clean lab to ensure no stray matter makes its way into the resin.

How do you work?

I always start a project by creating a moodboard, so I can get to grips with the colour palette and visual theme I want to work towards. Then, whilst I use a sketchbook sometimes, I tend to prefer to plan artworks either by painting / drawing / collaging on a larger scale on loose pieces of paper – I find this a freer process. I also use weave software to visualize structure, scale and colour interactions and am an avid sampler.

I know it’s a hard question but how long does a piece generally take from start to finish?

There’s no straightforward answer to this. I almost never start a piece of work, and work on it continuously until its finished. Its literally a spectrum between maybe six hours and three months plus!

What is you most proud of so far in your career?

This question has rather stumped me! There have been so many projects and achievements that I’ve been incredibly proud of, so I’ve found it hard to highlight just one.  But perhaps, one the earliest moments of great pride was when a blanket I’d designed whilst on work experience for Welsh woolen mill Melin Tregwynt, won a Homes and Gardens Classic Design Award and joined the Victoria and Albert Museum permanent collection. Also, the first major public art project that necessitated me moving my Loose Threads resin process across into glass lamination for The Beaney Art Gallery and Museum in Canterbury was a huge deal. Working with the wonderful Innovative Glass Products company in South Wales, I made the glass for a large triptych window with gradating tones of deep red into orange threads for this refurbished and extended space in the heart of the historic city of Canterbury. I was six months pregnant when overseeing the final installation, and then the reopening of the gallery was one of my baby son’s first ‘big trips’ away. 

You have done lots of commissions in public spaces. Do you have any advice for artists wanting to get their work into public spaces? 

With all the public art commissions I’ve undertaken, I’ve had to apply for them and then when shortlisted, attend an interview to present my proposal in person. It’s essential to put yourself in the shoes of the commissioning organization. What are they looking for? It’s your job to try and figure this out and answer their needs. Analyse the brief so that you understand it inside out back to front. If the brief is sparsely written, then you need to dig deep and find out more before you make your proposal. Do a site visit, understand the practicalities, speak to the project manager and make sure you fully grasp who the end user is. Ensure that your proposal is realistic, coherent, practical and inspiring. You also need to make sure that you as a person inspires confidence. Will you be a pleasure to work with? Can you manage a big budget? Are your costings realistic? Can you lead community engagement activities that so often are a part of public art projects? Think about what the commissioning organsiation needs and wants from the artwork, and make sure you answer it in your proposal.

Do you have any advice for aspiring textile artists?

Perhaps the most pertinent advice I give my final year degree students, is that you make your own opportunities. Virtually nothing will arrive on your doorstep without you being proactive. Whilst its important to apply for any relevant advertised commissions, awards and exhibitions, don’t forget you can make proposals to galleries / businesses / publications as well. That is how I secured several of my curation projects, the R&D funding for the resin work and my permanent part time teaching post. Dream up your perfect project, and explore how you can make it happen. Embrace networking and (within reason!) say yes to all interesting opportunities that come your way especially at the beginning of your career – you have no idea what doors they could subsequently open.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I’m currently working towards my first major solo exhibition at Ruthin Craft Centre in North Wales which will open in 2021. This has been generously supported by National Lottery funding distributed through the Arts Council of Wales. 

www.laurathomas.co.uk

https://www.instagram.com/laurathomastextiles

Laura Thomas