Next week will mark the opening of DIS/rupt; a Textile Study Group exhibition launching in Stroud. Forming a part of Select Festival presented by SIT Select, the show will be held both in Museum in the Park from May 1st and Landsdown Hall Gallery from May 3rd, with over 20 artists exhibiting. This is one of many events to look forward to throughout the festival, and will feature textile art that aims to disrupt tradition through a variety of avenues. One artist’s work to look forward to is Jean Draper’s, an artist who closely reflects the intricacies of barren landscapes through textiles, after she once witnessed the aftermath of a devastating wildfire in Arizona.

‘The sense of a place and its associations is very important to me,’ Jean explains, ‘I often reflect upon the people, past and present, who have lived and worked there. I respond strongly to dry, barren landscapes where the “bare bones” and extreme shapes of land and rocks are visible along with the effects of time and the elements.’ Using found, natural materials as part of her work, Jean reflects the landscapes’ palette and textures through her artwork’s haptic surfaces. Having learned to knit, sew, darn, crochet and embroider from quite a young age, Jean’s chosen medium now is hand stitching, and she often favours the whip stitch. ‘These raised pieces led to completely three dimensional work,’ she says, ‘and constructions incorporating hand stitching, some machine stitching, wrapping, and mixed media.’

Alongside the exhibition, SIT select will be holding a symposium titled Dis/rupting Tradition: New Textile Languages which will unpack the theme of disrupting tradition, featuring insightful contributions from Melanie Miller, Alice Kettle, June Hill and Michelle Stephens. For anyone who can’t make it to Stroud to see the exhibition forf eaturing insightful contributions from Melanie Miller, Alice Kettle, June Hill and Michelle Stephens. For anyone who can’t make it to Stroud to see the exhibition for themselves it’s worth noting that the show is due to tour after its launch next week, heading to Gallery Oldham in December and to Minerva Gallery, Llanidloes in May next year.

DIS/rupt exhibition dates: Museum in the Park 1 - 21 May Lansdown Hall Gallery 3 – 21 May Official opening for both venues Friday 5 May www.sitselect.org www.textilestudygroup.co.uk www.museuminthepark.org.uk/select-2017-disrupt www.lansdownhall.org/exhibitions/disrupt-exhibition-select-festival-2017