Image: (c) Margo Selby.
Collect 2020, the international art fair for modern craft and design from the Crafts Council arrives at Somerset House today, running from 27 February – 1 March 2020. The fair is in its 16th year and continues to be the only gallery-presented art fair for craft; the work of 400 artists will be presented by galleries coming from across the globe. The show features Open Collect, a showcase of 12 ambitious craft-led installations - here we look at three of the textile works included.
Textile artist Margo Selby presents Vexillum, a grand-scale series of handwoven artworks. These oversized geometric structures, each measuring 165 x 175cm, push the boundaries of what can be achieved on her 24-shaft hand loom and mark a new and progressive phase in Selby's textile art practice. Each composition is woven with over 18,000 strands of cotton, Tencel and silk yarns, blended in the construction to create a textural and graphic surface.
Image: (c) Julia Griffiths Jones.
Julia began creating thin wire sacks whilst on a residency in India: "Working three dimensionally, and in fabric is a new departure for me, and has come about following a three week residency in India in 2017, funded by the British Council, Wales Arts International, and the Arts Council of Wales. In Gujarat I was hosted by Khamir an NGO for rural crafts in Kachchh, and outside my bedroom door I could see yarn being made into hanks, and acres of indigo dyed cloth hanging up to dry in the scorching heat, gently moving in the breeze."
Image: (c) Paula Reason.
Paula Reason's machine-embroidered sculptural silk panels provide an insight into the relationship that three established craftspeople have with their working environment. Nurture speaks about Kate Fedden's life at the heart of a creative family; Legacy reveals the objects and materials that have been central to Diana Springall's making process; and Michael Brennand-Wood's painful loss and recreation of a studio is countered in Renewal by pictorially wrapping the new studio in the 'comfort blanket' of the old.
For more information about Collect 2020 visit www.collect2020.org.uk
