Three pieces of my woven textile work, Catharsis, Metamorphosis and Jewels, are currently on display at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum until the end of June. This was made possible thanks to an Ignite Grant 2024 from Warwick District Council.
Artist Statement
I’m interested in the healing potential of art and emotional catharsis that can be found in the creative process. In this work I’ve been thinking about what it means to express the Self. This led me to make work about my feelings related to experiencing chronic illness, the effect this has had on my life, and the way my sense of identity has changed. Although not explicitly referencing illness, the work addresses the weaving together of fragments and artefacts of past experiences, thoughts and emotions, represented with the incorporation of cut up journals, drawings and clothing. Sakiori, a Japanese practice of cutting old fabric into strips to weave into a new cloth, is common in SAORI weaving. For me this represents forming the new from the old.
I am a Leamington based textile artist. I originally trained in traditional woven textile design during my degree at Winchester School of Art, graduating in 2002. I started to explore SAORI weaving in 2023 through my ‘Intuitive Threads’ research project funded by a Develop Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England.
SAORI is an expressive form of weaving originating in Japan, that encourages experimentation, pushing boundaries and self-development. It connects to an intuitive, mindful way of working. These aspects appeal to me and I aim to develop them through my work. SAORI encourages expressing the ‘true self’ through the weaving process and ‘kansai’, an inner intuitive sense of beauty that is within everyone.
As we create and construct our lives and selves from different elements, so we create and construct the woven cloth.