Delaine Le Bas

delaine le bas photographed by tara darby
photograph shown courtesy tara darby

The work of Delaine Le Bas has haunted me for some time now. It is vigorous and frenetic, urgent, direct and unapologetic. At times it is dark and disturbing, but then there are flashes of pure childish joy. These two qualities play together through her work like children toppling through emotions, joyous then suddenly nasty, jokes that go too far, games which end in tears. Of course I was initially drawn to her use of textiles, but the work is so broad. Installations are frequently claustrophobic, crammed with kitsch, with clutter, a mesh of work, life, history and emotion. There is no separation between paint, objects, stitching and writing - it seems that all elements are a part of each other, every edge is blurred yet so many edges are jagged.

Gynaikonotides, 2008, The Fabric of Myth, Compton Verney

Gynaikonitides is a work that references Greek mythology. Roughly translated, it means 'women's quarters'. In the 5th or 6th century BC Greek homes were split into two and (naturally!) the men had the best quarters. This piece references the tale of Philomela. The tale is of course a tragedy, of heartbreaking loss of innocence, of violence and gruesome acts. Revenge is finally taken and tragically the life of a baby boy is lost. This installation is a narrow room, strewn with balloons and drawings, leading to a child's cot. Webs or strings hang from the ceiling, falling across your face making you want to push them away whist at the same time compelling you to move further in and look at the detail. This is claustrophobic, yet the strings are flimsy and weak, evoking threads of time and history, neglect and intrigue. What happened to the child in the cot, was the mother forced to an act of cruelty? Who by? Who to..? The birds are singing, some find it restful, others find it menacing.. what is their significance? In the tale of Philomela the characters were eventually turned to birds but were they ever free or were they forever tangled in the webs and strings of their behaviour? Childish balloons feel foreboding. Dolls are taped, restricted, trapped. Does this relate to the innocent life that was lost or do they refer to the child that was killed - an innocent child cruelly taken.

Gynaikonotides, 2008, The Fabric of Myth, Compton Verney

In the piece The House of the Juju Queen, I feel more claustrophobia, a recurrent theme in Le Bas’ work. The emblems and motifs here are childish, simplistic, often cheap and tacky ornaments, which bring to mind a person’s history from childhood to the tokens they (we) collect throughout and hold onto for the emotions we imbue them with. It has a bride as the central figure, masked and hidden as she purveys her reflection, which is the one thing missing from the cluttered setting. Is this speaking of sadness or of mystery? She sits like an innocent at an altar, faceless but for an animal mask, shrouding her humanity and making her….what? Shy? Brutish? Scarred? Mysterious? The Juju House was a West African house of superstition, a place full of entities, of witchcraft and magic. What I really love about this piece is the same mist of superstition and mystery yet the familiarity of the tokens and memento’s. Each doll, each ornament or scrap of fabric speaks of a whole history of a whole identity and generations of stories and experience.

The House of the Juju Queen, 2007/2008
courtesy Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch

Delaine Le Bas’ son Damian James writes of this piece: Le Bas recasts the sensationalist presentation of the ‘Juju house’ with reference to her Gypsy identity, taking objects invested by her people with emotive power and positioning them in circumstances that echo historical trauma. String lengths hanging like snakes-cum-cobwebs create a delicate claustrophobia, simultaneously enticing and warning of those who spin them, hidden out of sight. The stark and jerry-built shack of the shanty town tells fairy tales about real people: prisoners; adventurers; victims; aggressors; travellers; children.

The House of the Juju Queen, 2007/2008
courtesy Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch

The small mannequins that inhabit these spaces remind us of Alice in her Wonderland of sweet-yet-twisted imagery, and the freakishness of some children’s toys highlights the ambiguities of innocence. We are directed to the true horror that some children face everyday, living on the street, living as child soldiers.

The House of the Juju Queen, 2007/2008, installation view
courtesy Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch

Dolls in white dresses recount the pain behind the malice of Miss Havisham. In the ageless doll arrayed in wedding lace, Le Bas finds echoes of child prostitution in Victorian England, reminding us of Oscar Wilde’s observation that England is “the native land of the hypocrite”. (Damian James Le Bas)

Sun, Bun, Gun, Run, 2008
courtesy Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch

Childhood is a recurring theme - see the work Sun, Bun Gun, Run? above. I asked Delaine Le Bas of the significance of this and in her words...
Sun, Bun, Gun, Run ? On the streets isn’t this what is happening? For many children there is no ‘childhood’ and at the other extreme in the West it is seen that children are like ‘mini adults’. What is going on? Child slavery, poverty, labour, soldiers, prostitution, for all the so called advances in the world why is so much glossed over. All of that potential being crushed. I wouldn’t say that motherhood and marriage have influenced my work but they have made me
question many things about the world we live in.

I love you, you love me?, 2008
courtesy Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch

Another important theme is the reference to the fact that Le Bas is a Roma Gypsy. Her work not only deals with the prejudice against the minority that is the Gypsy community and the sensational media headlines and campaigns against them, but also prejudice in the broadest sense.

refusing exclusion, exhibition view at Prague Biennal 3, May - Sept 2007
courtesy Galeria Sonia Rosso

Here Delaine talks about her background and the way this informs her work; As a child I lived in 2 worlds. I did go to school but it was never a priority of any kind and I spent great amounts of my time with extended family who were variety of characters and who all lived in interesting environments. From when I was at school I knew this was not the same as everyone else but I have always embraced this difference. I was never afraid to speak up about my family or how we lived (we’ve lived in trailers, chalets and houses). It was problematic when I wanted to go to art college . I hadn’t been to school much so my attendance record was appalling and they did not want to give me a place because of this but I argued my case. Also no one from my family , immediate or extended had been to college (I am the eldest of five and the only one to have finished any secondary school education). The idea of ‘losing you’ to the wider community was also heavy in the air so I was allowed to go but with very strict conditions. Which meant that while at college I was living two lives at once almost. I met Damian at college and became pregnant which for my family was not seen as being problematic as having children young is not seen as being a problem plus living in large family means that everyone helps out with caring which enabled me to continue at college easily.

l-r, Damian Le Bas, Delaine Le Bas and Damian James Le Bas, photographed by Tara Darby

There are definite roles within the community for men and women and it is hard as a woman to have a ‘career’ as such, so for that I am unusual. But I could not do anything else other than what I do. For me it is about creating the work, as for labels and boxes, tear it off and jump out of it. I was born what I am, I feel I have worked to be able to do what I do, which I love and I have many supportive people around me. The work is multi layered and tackles all of the issues not only myself and my own community deal with on a day to day basis but many other people everywhere. I feel my works deal with issues generally of ‘difference’ or being an ‘outsider’ in what ever form that takes and that it should be something to be celebrated. I also try and deal with the issues of the pressures that exist both from ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ a community when you make a decision to do something different. There can be prejudice everywhere even where people would like to think it does not exist. And Fairytales, read the original versions and they deal with the harsh realities of the world.

'lil bit of evil', 2006, mixed media
courtesy Galleria Sonia Rosso

I’ve always found sewing a particularly easy and transportable way of working. You can be working a really large piece of work but it packs down small and you can take it with you anywhere to work on it. The idea of it also being seen as ‘women’s work’ but how this can be used in a subversive way to communicate all sorts of messages. By it’s nature it naturally seems to draw people to it only then for them to be confronted by imagery and words that make them think about issues that they would not expect to see in something that maybe looks so ‘pretty’. Sewing is something that I can do at anytime, if the TV is on or even if I am in company. I work with different sorts of sewing machine and hand embroidery by it’s nature and the speed with which you can work machine embroidery can be aggressive but equally when I have cut or slashed works to hand sew them together is almost like stitching a wound which has all sorts of other connotations. Sewing is something I have always done, it’s just part of my own everyday experience. I feel I am in an extremely amazing position with the people that I work with in that they encourage me and have complete faith in trusting me with the works I produce. Paradise Found was my first solo at Sonia’s gallery. I sent a number of pieces to the gallery and also produced works while I was there. The space that I am working within is very important to the whole overall look of the show and so I almost have to immerse myself within the space as it takes form. The title came form the idea that The First Roma Pavilion, Paradise Lost, Venice Biennale 2007, was an amazing event for our community and it had been ‘Found’ and we were reclaiming our identity. It also relates to the idea of beauty in the ‘cast off’ and ‘found’ object.

Farewell My Lovely, 2008
courtesy Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch

About ‘Farewell My Lovely'; ‘Farewell My Lovely’ relates to two friends of ours called Zac and Reg who died in a boating accident. Zac had only recently before the accident had a ship tattoo, one of my dolls also has a panel on her back stitched about this ‘We Loved and Lost Them’. So the prettiness of the shells and the idea of the sea but also the power of it which as with most of nature is under-estimated greatly.

living together, MARCO, 2009 photograph
courtesy MARCO, Vigo, Espana. Enrique Tourino

On working with children; Mostly when I show work is when the most interesting conversations take place. Many adults say they find some of the figures especially disturbing where as the children seem to embrace them. I think this is because they have no ‘Fear’ to a certain point. So their honesty and openness is continually something to be learnt from. Their freedom with use of materials is amazing. In workshop situations the one re occurring theme is the so called ‘best artists’ in the groups get the least but every other child thrives with the freedom and they create the most amazing, imaginative and often thought provoking works. I feel this says a lot about how we educate children and that many more are being failed because of lack of self esteem and encouragement. (Delaine Le Bas)

living together, marco, 2009 photograph
courtesy MARCO, Vigo, Espana. Enrique Tourino

When I first saw Tara Darby's portraits, I was struck by their warmth. People often find Le Bas’ work hard and confrontational, yet these portraits were so full of softness and intimacy that I really felt I wanted to use them and find out more. So I contacted Tara Darby, the photographer and she so kindly allowed me to show them and also generously answered my questions. This clearly confirmed my instincts that she had such an evident connection with Delaine Le Bas and the photographs are a fantastic document of the warmth that Delaine Le Bas provokes from people.

living together, marco, 2009

photograph courtesy MARCO, Vigo, Espana. Enrique Tourino

So I asked Tara;
How did you come across Delaine le Bas? I was commissioned to document the making of "Room", Delaine's first solo show at the Transition Gallery by art director David James. He did not want to produce a conventional catalogue to accompany the show.

delaine le bas photographed by tara darby
photograph shown courtesy tara darby

Is she a friend or were you introduced? We were introduced. After meeting David and showing him my work I went to meet Cathy Lomax and Alex Michon at Transition. They also liked my work so they gave Delaine my number. We spoke on the phone and her and her husband Damien came over to my flat in Hackney for a cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon and left at midnight. We just clicked straight away.

delaine le bas photographed by tara darby
photograph shown courtesy tara darby

Were you already aware of her work? No

It is always fascinating (to me) to see photographers portraits of artists, can you explain what you hoped to present about Delaine in these photos? I wanted to capture as much of Delaine's spirit as possible- her inspirations, the way she works, the way she dresses. . I wanted the pictures to feel intimate, unstaged. . to be real. Because most of the pictures were shot like this I also wanted to shoot some formal portraits of her where I removed her from her environment. I wanted these pictures to be iconic, for the viewer to really be able to stop and stare at her face, to feel her intensity. My favourite portrait of her is the one that is on the back of "Room" which was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery.

l-r, Damian Le Bas, Delaine Le Bas photographed by Tara Darby

Is there anything about Delaine that surprised you as you spent time with her? Mostly the volume of work that she produces from such a small room. Her working space is packed full of material, dolls, car boot treasures but she knows where everything is and is super organised.

delaine le bas photographed by tara darby
photograph shown courtesy tara darby

Can you tell me what you took away from the project and your time with Delaine? A bond, a friendship that will last forever. Delaine has been a huge inspiration to me, she is utterly unpretentious, completely her own person and a lot of fun. The project could not have worked if there was not an instant connection between us as I was living in her house on and off over a period of a few months. It was a collaboration in the purest sense of the word.

photograph by Tara Darby

Whilst trying to track down Delaine, I contacted Cathy Lomax of Transition Gallery. Not only is it a fantastic gallery with exciting new artists and projects, but Cathy was incredibly open and helpful. I’m so grateful to her and highly recommend that you spend some time looking through the website. You may be aware of their magazine, Garageland which is available to buy on their website and I one day hope to own a limited boxed edition of Room, including an original drawing and embroidery by Delaine Le Bas.

living together, marco, 2009
photograph courtesy MARCO, Vigo, Espana. Enrique Tourino

This piece is written with enormous thanks to the kindness and generosity of spirit from Delaine Le Bas, Tara Darby and Cathy Lomax.

delaine le bas photographed by tara darby
photograph shown courtesy tara darby

Galleria Sonia Rosso
Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch
Witch Hunt at Aspex 5th September - 1st November 2009
Preview with Performance by Delaine Le Bas and Mike Rogers Saturday 5th September 2 - 4pm
Artists Talk Saturday 10th October 2009 at 4pm

Damian James Le Bas - to see more of his writing please click here.
He also has work in Granule Summer 2009 edition available from Borders.

Delaine will be showing with Damian at Dvir Gallery in Tel Aviv in November. They have been curated for this show by Claire Fontaine.

The installation The Walls Can Be Invisible is still showing as part of Living Together (curated by Xabier Arakistain and Emma Dexter) at Museo De Arte Contemporanea De Vigo, Spain until late September.

Delaine is also included in the forthcoming book Sixty: Innovators Shaping Our Creative Future by Thames and Hudson (ISBN:9780500514924) available from October 2009.

image courtesy tara darby

A Little Piece of Mind

square above by Stella McCartney, bottom edge by Giles Deacon

'a little piece of mind' pulls together the minds of 86 creatives in the form of 6" squares of fabric, each one individually designed or chosen by the contributor.

Artist julie floersch who put together the quilt talks about the process of the quilt's formation -

"incorporating all the different colours and images into one piece was like solving a puzzle. I began by organising colour combinations surrounding certains squares that could not be interrupted. The unending repetition that I create in my patterns allows each little world to interact with another creating all sorts of different colour combinations and experiences. The denim and the Liberty fabrics run throughout the entire quilt, acting as a mediator where the worlds intersect."
Mark Noe of Marque Creative:

"Craft
For a few years now, we have been tracking the infiltration - often very positive - of modern techniques into craft forms. Quiltmaking is one area that has been at the forefront of this with young designers such as julie floersch exploring, pushing and redefining the language of the medium. While these designers are forward thinking, a traditional and historic aspect still remains through the use of natural materials and an insistence on age-old hand craft.

Collaboration
Although this exciting tendency is widely acknowledged, no one it seems has been prepared to champion this within the creative industries or on a worldwide, collaborative level. So this idea became an important challenge for us; to take, and then piece together, seemingly disparate influences and inputs to make a coherent, influential output. As an aesthetic philosophy, this has engaged both us and our creative collaborators.

square above - elvis robertson, left edge - Rachel Speed, top edge - Hussein Chalayan, right edge - Jo Wood

The premis was simple.
Leading creatives were asked to supply 'a little piece of mind' in the form of a 6 inch square of fabric. From a diverse array of such contributions by iconos and innovators, floersch has composed a quilt that reinforces the fact that all it takes to make a big difference is a little personal time.

Cause
We then decided to channel both of these two start points towards a more provocative or powerful cause.

Over the past 10 years, the crisis in homelessness has been worsening - almost unrecognised - despite the amazing efforts of organisations such as Shelter across the UK and the Bowery Mission in NYC.
This is a global issue - by 2010, one half of the world's population will be living in urban areas. A lot of the people unable to cope with this process will be dislocated and displaced. The problem will also be exacerbated, in the more developed countries, because two of the most chronic consequences of the curent economic crisis will be savagely deteriorating housing and employment markets.

top square above - fred butler

Generally, all of us should accept that we, our friends and our colleagues, live a relatively privileged life. A 'little piece of mind' implies only making a small creative contribution. This can be effectively converted into funds and then into action. However, 'a little piece of mind?' provokes a question about whether we could do more."

- Mark Noe, marque creative

Hussein Chalayan:
"I contributed a selection of printed fabric. My reason for participating in the project was based on the feeling that all of us working in the creative industries live charmed lives. ALPOM gave me the opportunity to offer support to a worthy project attracting attention to a problem that is not glamorous or sexy. I was especially shocked to read recently that the number of homeless women and children in the UK has risen 80% in the last five years, in a developed society in the 21st century this is totaly unacceptable."

Rupert Sanderson:
"I contributed an interesting swatch of leather from the archive in my factory. It combines photography and leather-making - two of my passions. With regards to the whole 'a little piece of mind' project, I think quilting is a highly emotive way of bringing attention to the plight of disadvantaged and marginalised people."

square above - Temperley, bottom edge - Kate Moss, top edge - Richard Nicoll

Temperley:
"A patchwork of emerald green chiffon with saphire blue and silver flower detail bead work, adding texture and 3D interest to the patch with vibrant uplifting colours."

My own square (detail above) was a simple image of a moth, embroidered using hair. I chose this image because of the irritation a moth causes me as a quilter.. the fear it strikes in me when I find them in the summer near my precious collection of fabrics. They make their homes in cupboards and eat into my treasured cloths. I'm lucky to have the luxury of this trivial problem. I make expensive bedding for beautiful environments. Beautiful, safe, cosy homes. Those without homes might encounter the same irritating moths, eating through their not-so exquisite bedding. Piles of old bedding that we see in doorways from one day to the next. Moths don't eat hair, so I chose to represent them with that.

It's a small connection, literally the first thing that went through my mind, so it was 'a little piece of (my) mind'.

links below for charities, organisers, press coverage and julie floersch
shelter
the bowery mission
marque creative
topshop
vogue online
liberty
julie floersch - work
julie floersch - blog

joana vasconcelos

el matador, 2007

Joana Vasconcelos caught the attention of the international art world in 2005 at the Venice Biennale. Her sculptural work is that which often marries highly intelligent concepts with playful execution.

el matador, 2007

Her work will be immediately recognisable to some of you for the volume and dexterity of crochet work. However she makes important sculptural pieces which pull upon a great range of influences, materials and disciplines. Her output is prolific, having it's roots in sculpture it has grown in scale and detail, range and focus. From outdoor installations to video, ceramic, fabric, and hair, from feminism, identity, globalisation to alcoholism, themes of intellect and kitsch.

victoria, 2008

Vasconcelos' work repeatedly plays upon the tension between the large scale of peices and the small initmate details of their technical execution. The materials and techniques used are employed to cleverly communicate subversion and strength, having great impact from afar then pulling you in closer.

gorette, 2006

For example the monumentally scaled chandelier pictured below, A Noiva (the bride) is made from around 25,000 tampons. This is not just a simple ironic nod to that which is feminine, but also a global bookmark. This was shown at the 2005 Venice Biennale and understandably drew international attention and much admiration.

a noiva (the bride), 2005

Chandeliers have been widely seen as great statements of status and glamour - the larger they are the more expensive and covetable. However this one has the impact from afar but none of the crystalline sparkle. The tampon would appear to represent a tedious chore in most western women's life, however Vasconcelos has remarked that a man she met in Turkey made it quite clear that it has further significance. In this man's culture, the tampon is frowned upon, seen as something that causes infection and destroys a woman's virginity.

the island of love, 2006

Artists often use images of porn, brutality or drudgery to convey feminist sentiments. I feel that too frequently women's sexuality is seen as the dominating force in their identity (and increasingly used by women themselves as a tool for progress). Of course there are so many other complex components and persona's which create the whole person.

happy family, 2006

The 'community of women' is frequently conveyed by images of domesticity, of repression or sexual subversion. In Vasconcelos' work I feel there is a more broadly feminine and more universal way of prompting thought about what it is to be a woman, not simply from whichever is specific to our own culture. My feeling is that her work is huge on first appearance, but it begs you to come and study the detail, learn more about it's complexity, contradictions, surprises or mundanity and draw your own conclusions. Perhaps that's an appropriate analogy for womanhood?

happy family, 2006

Using crochet, a method of craft which has obviously been used throughout the history of most cultures, enables her to connect with women of any nationality. However the skill obviously has different implications to each nation, as with the tampons.

happy family, 2006

It is interesting that women are fascinated with the doily, the beautiful intricate art of crochet and lace-making have undying appeal. Vasconcelos highlights our feminine instincts to clothe, covet, smother and suffocate by using them on an almost gargantuan scale. However these images are so frequently perceived merely as 'beautiful' and 'pretty' as the skill of the hand work is of course something so rarely seen on such a scale in a public arena. But it is refreshing to see the craft moving into the arena of 'art' in a revered way, gathering mass appreciation.

contaminacao, 2008

Her large scale piece 'Contaminacao' (Contamination), shown in Sao Paolo in 2008 is by contrast a huge, sprawling, colourful piece which dribbles and spreads through the public space.

contaminacao, 2008

It is viewed from different heights and angles, inviting people to interact with it. Made from garish fabrics and knitting, it seems playful and toy-like. Yet it creeps and spreads with parts that look like bacterial cells. It is almost like a strange sci-fi organism which could be terrifying were it not for the soft, colourful appearance.

contaminacao, 2008

In opposition to the cloaked, paralysed sculptures of before, this enormous piece is warm and human, bringing people together both in the gallery and in the making of it. As men and women we all connect with fabric on many different levels. Therefore the piece here can be experienced as you physically journey along it and as you mentally and emotionally travel back through your catalogue of textile experiences and connections.

joujoux, 2007

Seeing a celebrated artist using her work in such a number of deeply human and emotive ways, encouraging people to interact with it, becoming a part of the community alongside the makers, is incredibly refreshing.

joujoux, 2007

It will be interesting to see if the recession and our move towards craft, recycling and a renewed humility will engender more such inclusive art.

joujoux, 2007

Vasconcelos work is too wide-ranging and thought-provoking for me to do it justice here. I highly recommend that you follow this link to her website and research her incredible work for yourself.

contaminacao, 2008

I am obviously concerned on this blog with the textile-based work, but her ceramic and other sculptures are equally inspiring and significant.

I discovered her work via someone who sent me an email last year but unfortunately I no longer have their contact details.. sorry.

With thanks to Joana Vasconcelos for kindly allowing me to use her images.

Anna Torma - embroidery

Material Memory with Jane Adeney - 1999

Anna Torma is a fibre artist whose work has stayed with me for years. I feel a deep connection to it and often re-visit it.

The work I am so enamoured with is of course, her quilts. In this instance it's their embroidery/illustration and content that fascinates me rather than any technicalities of the craft. Their thinness, with warped sides remind me of early quilts that were perhaps made for hospital patients from newspaper or old shirt fabrics.

The works are huge in scale, intricate, complex, intimate, meaningful, playful, contradictory. Some of the images evoke for me the dynamism and movement of Cy Twombly. Each one is a place to visit, spend time, be lost, find things, learn and always be inspired. So many things happening in each piece, so many strands, stories and interpretations.. with a level of skill, care and detail that belies their playful appearance.

Playground III - 2002

A number of years ago I wanted to find out more about Anna Torma, so I contacted her and asked where I might find information. Her response was to very kindly post me an exhibition catalogue in return for copies of Selvedge. I was thrilled and impressed by her earthy nature and open manner. It felt like a favourite pop star had written to me - so exciting.

detail of Herbary - 2001

This warmth is blatant in her work. Her maternal experience is there for all to see but she is a weighty artist, an important influence on many fibre artists. Her originality, questioning of materials, technical expertise, wisdom and cultural heritage are cleverly and delicately woven into the complicated patterns and subtexts.

Playground I - 2002

Torma repeatedly uses the drawings and stories of her children. As I am primarily concerned with the use of textiles to communicate and perpetuate memory, I find this element of her work particularly powerful and moving. A simple rainy day stuck indoors, but the details of that are not just on film or in photos, instead expressed by the children and Anna through their markings and her stitch. The work involved feels like a natural representation of the patience and repetition of motherhood and the unconditional love therein.

Are the images we see portrayed here of stories she has shared with her children again and again, reminding them all of the nights she comforted them and rocked them to sleep? Do I see monstery teeth - so significant in early childhood - so painful yet such a bonding shared experience. The monsters and the landscapes.. I see an image of numerous breasts - is that of significance to Torma? Before I knew about Torma's work I used this image myself in a diary drawing many years ago when I was making a joking nod to feeling able to nurture the world (or something like that). Perhaps the many-breasted woman is one with love enough for all..? Was this Torma that was full of love or something significant to her children? The whole piece is a big, beautiful private code within which we can all find significant parts, beautiful hints and project our own hypotheses. All of it about emotion, about feeling and reacting, making us think and feel, to me it is what makes work powerful.

Rainy Day II, Tales - 2001

Torma completed her studies in Hungary in 1979, having witnessed the textile revolution of the 1970's. Textiles was at that time moving away from it's incarnation as folk art, or genteel past time. It slipped under the harsh spotlight of the authorities that shone intently over the shoulder of fine arts. Pieces were then being woven or stitched into abtract forms, installations, conceptual work in ways that had not previously been considered.

detail from Rainy Day II

Torma retained a feminine sensitivity about her work and was concerned with the motifs from her craft's heritage, with the stitches used and their significance and retaining the folk art references that other fibre artists were then rejecting.

detail from Playground I - 2002

Her work today seems to me to be entirely universal in it's communication of shared experiences, instincts and references. I'd really love to see it in person - to experience the scale, the texture, the little details, the motion of the stitch and the emotion of the piece. If any of you have experienced her work in person then please tell me - I'd love to hear about it.

Just My Imagination - 2006

anna torma

Julie Arkell (knit to embroidery)

The magical Julie Arkell is my bridge between knitting and embroidery (next area of interest). I recently had the privilege of attending one of her workshops at Loop in Islington. I had an absolute ball.

Arriving at Loop I had a quick chat with lovely Susan and a couple of the beautiful girls that work there. It's a trinket box of treasures... walking in the colour of the yarns, products and aroma from the scented candles immediately put you in a spell and make you want to stay. Everyone there is passionate, friendly, interesting and welcoming. Susan is a really special woman who clearly attracts other similarly spirited people.
Downstairs, the stock room was turned into a cosy little den for learning. Candles, flowers, baskets of wool and jugs of needles on the table, yarns lining the walls around us, the exotic and talented Julie Arkell humbly and warmly made us all tea and coffee. How lovely is that?!

Julie enthusiastically talked to us about her work and showed us a selection of her creatures. Everything about her is gentle, gracious and warm. Her energy and fascination for what she does and the world around her are a joy to encounter.
The creatures we saw were bigger and heavier than I expected and as textiles so often do, they acted like catalysts to conversation. The group was so mixed and the many different spins on the creatures, different points of view, different interpretations was wonderful.
As we began working, people talked about their experiences and craft lives in their respective countries. Each person was passionate about textiles, each in a totally different way, but the community of the group was wonderful. Shuffling through a vintage case of Julie's fabrics, through baskets of wool, it was a small group of disparate women in a sweet-scented fabric heaven.
Julie collects words and phrases, something I also happen to have done for many years. For me it was wonderful to meet someone so different to myself, but with so much commonality to talk about. Chatting about various textile artists, techniques, our fascination with lives lived and records and remnants of those, collecting 'bits' that are imbued with memory... it was a rare treat for me... I was so over-excited I was giddy.
Julie's work is fascinating. My favourite piece being that with a press-stud as a face - which closes in on itself and is called 'shy'. It's small and charming, it has a playfulness but I feel that the concept is really strong and powerful, simple and concise, it never ceases to impress me.
Her creatures were beautiful and full of character. To hear her speaking about why they are who/what they are, how they evolve, how they grow out of the paper, how she chooses the papers, works with it and then chooses what comes from it, is intimate and magical.

Today in our day to day lives we're surrounded by progress and changes which scare and delight us. Julie is a person so gentle and genuine, in brightly coloured, intricately detailed clothes, with a kind manner, without a computer, she chooses to hand write instead.. she could be a beautiful creature herself, simply not of our time. But her lively interest in everything means she is totally of this time. It is just that her insight and accurate perception cuts straight through to what people can relate to, what it is people are looking for - in tiny details, threads and remnants, these little pieces of detail that we find comforting or evocative, connecting us to some unknown artisan, housewife or child from the past.
People dropped in throughout the day. A beautiful Japanese artist, a girl and her mum, a lovely girl who clearly drops in from time to time to get help with her knitting. They do sit and spend time teaching there. It's wonderful. Anyone can drop in, sit in a lovely chair (cushioned to perfection) and ask for help. There's no hesitation, just enthusiasm from the incredibly talented girls who work there. (see what I mean here)
The course finished with a photo shoot of our little ladies all lined up outside the shop. It was like a Spice Girls reunion tour except... tasteful! Each creature was imbued with our own thoughts and ideas, full of the conversations from the day, each of them a totally different little character.
My creature/lady didn't get finished. I'll do that another time. For now she sits in a tea cup, reminding me of the chats. What I really got from the day was personal. As I'm currently a mum who has been at home with a poorly baby for the last 15 months, it was a reminder of all that makes me tick when I am very occasionally able to be 'me'. I considered my new work, my nervous new direction and thought that yes, it is valid... I'm thinking and working in a positive direction. I wonder what the others got from the day...
Meeting the other women was a real tonic, demonstrating how unifying this craft stuff is. Meeting Julie Arkell was marvellous. Her energy, gracious nature, her interest in everything, her quietly powerful work was really inspiring. And Susan and the girls at Loop - with all their knowledge and energy... impressive and benign, made for a really great day. I feel I went away with so much more than a creature. With a feeling of community, of similarity to such different people, with inspiration and energy for my personal work and my passion for textiles soaring higher than ever.
Julie Arkell will be teaching a residential workshop at Katie Armitage's wonderful home studio in the South of France this Autumn. You can find out more about it over here.
You can buy Julie's book online from Loop here.

mark newport (knit)

bobbleman - 2006

Much of the knitting I have blogged about has been created by women so some of it has inevitably focused on issues of comfort, home, domesticity and nurturing. Mark Newport makes knitted art that considers these same themes whilst additionally mulling over generally perceived and his own notions of what it is to be a man.

argyleman - 2007

Here we see the comforting, soft material of wool crafted into a protective super-hero costume ready to be worn by a big muscular macho man. But isn't it generally the stereo-typical wimp that wears knitted tank-tops and cosy jumpers..? And isn't it normally the woman (who does the knitting) that is providing the comfort, protection and love for the child the knitting will clothe..? Or are these out-dated notions of gender which are continuously evolving?

self made - 2004

The contrast between the costumes when worn and the limp, empty garments that hang on the wall is marked. Once the muscle and the energy have gone they become strange looking pelts - the masks lend an eerie mystery but essentially whilst in that state they are skillfully crafted, limpid knitwear. Maybe fetishistic in appearance, as they hang in galleries they have more of the deflated morning after than the night before, more middle-aged spread than Clark Kent or Reed Richards.

patriot - 2004

These pieces are of course a product of age and context. Newport was a comic book consumer as a boy. Having been born in the 1960's, the heroes he would have read about and the stories he would have hungrily consumed were stereotypical and omnipresent. Television at that time churned out such series as Batman & Robin, Superman and Spiderman where again and again big strong men saved helpless women and children.

patriot - 2004

As a boy, super-heroes are statuesque, strong and powerful, honest and good. Is this how young boys perceive manhood? How they imagine the ideal father? As an adult male, that role of super-hero changes enormously and many men must question every day what is it that is required of them and what is it to be male. What makes a man incredible. What is it that enables a man to protect and save.

fantastic four - 2003

As a father the super-hero themes are there in any normal life (as he slips his imaginary superman pants over his trousers) - to teach children to be honest and good and be a hero in their eyes. Here I see a parallel with the empty costumes on the wall - like seeing one's super-hero father in a dressing gown or pyjama's when you awaken him to help you with a nightmare. Of course it is precisely then, at a groggy 4am that he most inhabits his super-hero role and is a brilliant Dad.

sweaterman 2005

There is irony in the consideration of how much protection a knitted super-hero costume could actually offer. Would it shrink in the rain, or stretch...? Would it shrink in the washer or dryer? Or snag on bushes...? Questions I am sure Newport must have pondered whilst painstakingly knitting the pieces. Of course in undertaking the knitting himself, Newport has taken on the traditional role of the woman as he sees it. He is raising his own personal questions around gender which are specific to his background and generation.

sweaterman 2005

Today however, the majority of women don't knit items for their families. This can be seen as a luxury since time is a valuable commodity. It is not strange now to see men at fashionable knitting groups. Comic books have increasing numbers of super-women and normal women go out to work, protect and provide for their families. So it will be interesting to see if this crossover of skills, roles and deeply personal questions will continue to change and homogenise or if artists like Newport will continue to push it further.

sweaterman faces - 2005

dell stewart (knit)

dell stewart at we are sleep club

I love this rainbow
I love that it's knitted
I love that it's like an upside down smile
I love the colours
I love the smile I had when I first saw it
I love that it's a great graphic image
...and that it's succinct

Here's a statement from Dell which gives more background to the piece and may encourage you to do a hop, skip and a jump over to her site and find out more.

"Recently I have been knitting. Partly a long Berlin winter, partly a need to be always making something. The process of knitting everyday objects is awkward, like a landscape rendered in extra large pixels, the resolution is pretty low. A clumsy representation, appealing in its naive simplicity. Despite graceless appearances it's sophisticated to envision and create in three-dimensions from a piece of string... So these ungainly creations have an innate wisdom passed from generation to generation, a tangible link to early human innovation.

I have an ongoing interest in the connections made with people and things through the processes of making and presenting art. Actively engaging and interacting with people and surroundings and keeping an interested eye on everyone in the art of living.

So the knitted rainbow is appealing in an iconic bright childish way. It has the sad imperfect qualities of a handmade item, started with such perfect hope, yet realized in a pleasingly limp way."

written afterwards (knit)

The written afterwards website shows an exciting and challenging body of work created by yoshikazu yamagata and kentaro tamai using fashion as a versatile tool for communication.
The well-known 'my town in my home' knitted houses were created in collaboration with textile artist mafuyu. This stimulating collaboration confronts what we expect from craft and fashion. Here we see the house as an item of clothing - that which defines us, a huge building softened and reduced, becoming something to play with or within, as we might have done as children....
Of course, they are intended to be used as fashion or as toys and were featured in the children's book elaelaopa. This is a considered approach to fashion as identity... but also as play, escape, warmth and comfort.Working in collaboration with other artists prompts the creation of work that is refreshingly wide-ranging.
In contrast to the knitted houses, here we see a deceptively complex piece of craftsmanship in an ethereal and delicate, intricately worked lace panel.
Using the panel in the forms of art, installation and fashion is testament to the imagination and adaptability of the item. Crossover is of course what so many artists do, be it illustration, film, photography, craft and so on - why not allow the pieces themselves to be multi-faceted.
Their brave approach to collaboration leads to an impressive adaptability across their many ideas and applications.
The clothing items they have produced are equally well constructed, challenging and considered.
'the everyone's new clothes' (pictured below) was a piece of work based on Hans Christian Andersen's the Emperor's New Clothes. Here they work ever-playfully with notions of fashion and beauty, turning the gaze back on the viewer by using industry players as the models.
Showing first in London in 2005, yoshikazu yamagata, took prominent fashion personalities and imagined what they might wear under their clothes. Then he presented them with their alter-egos on the catwalk.
The piece was later shown (above) to the Hinohara kindergarten in a Tokyo village, performed by dance troupe the bambiest.

I first came across 'my town in my home' via selvedge. It was also recently featured on bloesem.

janet morton (knit)

early frost - 2004

Artist Janet Morton's knitted work can be seen indoors and frequently out in the community, covering trees and buildings. Who could ever have thought that anyone could make trees more beautiful than nature has already? But these stunning web-like crochet coverings comfortably creep across their trunks.. hugging, decorating, warming and accentuating the contours of the towering stately creatures.

linden in lace - 2003

Her work is a wide-ranging exploration of architecture, texture, comfort, values, our use of exterior or interior spaces, of feminism, domesticity, craft, language, isolation and community. Quite a lot..

four season tree - 2004

To add 10,000 cloth leaves to the branches of trees (see above) is indeed beautiful, industrious and thought-provoking. Here all the seasons are present at once, showing the myriad of beautiful colours the tree presents us with throughout a year. The whole cycle in one place, although artificially created. Presenting her works continuously in such public arenas shows a desire to communicate with a wide audience and to ensure that nobody be excluded from the participatory experience or to engage with the subject, or piece.

casting off - 2000

The above artwork is a piece involving participants who each knitted and submitted squares. Each square commemorated an event of personal or historical significance, with a date and a ball of wool hanging from it. There were around 400 of these squares.

felled - 1997

The installation above is a translation of a poem. The leaves were made from work socks, as you can see below. The notion of work is another recurrent theme in her work. I interpret this making of beautiful delicate items, from work-worn, day-to-day socks as a mark of respect for the labour they participated in.

felled (detail) - 1997

You may have seen Janet Morton's knitted installation at the Crafts Council's Knit 2 Together exhibition a couple of years ago. It is an entirely knitted interior furnished with items typical of a 1950's suburban living room.
A hoover provides us with a nod to the work or chores of the house, but the woollen cup with a frothy top to it provides us with a nod to the famous feminist piece by Meret Oppenheim. Perhaps she is paying respect to the work of the woman who would have carried out the chores and the knitting in the home at that time? Perhaps the cup is a hint of rebellion or a simple dash of irony.

It is exciting that another distinguished artist is using wool and knitting in such thought-provoking ways giving it the potential to be seen as a serious medium in it's own right. I hope we hear a lot more about her in the future. Please follow this link for a visual archive of her work.

cast off / knitted wedding

Weddings ain't what they used to be. Nowadays the bride and groom may think nothing of parachuting onto a Borneo beach at dawn and quickly slipping into a little Valentino number for a dream ceremony on the shoreline...
Beautiful cakes costing thousands of pounds are intricately iced and hand painted. Each layer a different type of exotic cake, with extraordinary flavours only just invented.
Well-behaved doves are released into the air at just the right moment. Weddings cost a huge amount of money. Endless wedding magazines help people ensure that they look as they should and all dreams will come true on that one incredible fairytale day.
The wedding of Freddie Robins and Ben Coode-Adams was different, it was an entirely knitted, hand made creation by the knitting community. The Cast Off Knitting Group for Boys & Girls placed an ad with download-able knitting patterns for anyone to submit and be part of the visual feast.

The food was knitted...

the paparazzi cameras were knitted..

knitted bubbly...

even the disco ball was knitted...

and of course.. I spy a corker of a knitted wedding ring to go with a fantastically knitted wedding dress....

the bride and groom walked under an arch of giant knitting needles and were showered in knitted confetti...

What a wedding to remember. A great coming together of so many people's generosity, time, energy and spirit. It must have been such a magical day. You can view more of it here.
The wedding was held at Wandsworth's Pump House Gallery.

Congratulations to the bride & groom. What a glorious wedding.