Sculpture as Textiles; Textiles as Sculpture.

Any exhibition that explores the three-dimensional qualities of textiles is a winner in my book.  For me this quality is what gives life to fibre and cloth. Gina Grassi has brought together a lovely mix of works that explore the techniques of layering, moulding, printing, stretching, folding and weaving. Some familiar names and some newcomers; artists to look out for include: Annette Bugansky (issue 26) a British ceramic designer whose vessels combine clay with traditional clothes pattern drafting techniques, as well as crochet and knitting,  Annette creates tactile surface patterns on her ceramic structures. Nuala O’Donovan creates sculptural ceramics stemming from her interest in the narrative quality of irregularities in patterns and forms in nature. Gradually evolving, Nuala’s forms are constructed slowly over a period of weeks or months. During the  process each element of the pattern is woven, stacked and clustered together. In the Pinecone pieces, coils of thread and wool bundles collectively form a single structure. [caption id="attachment_10077" align="alignleft" width="598"] Nuala O'Donovan, Pinecone Round handbuilt porcelain. Photograph, Sylvain Deleu[/caption] Liz Nilsson (issue 28) is perhaps better known for her beautiful Scandinavian-inspired screen printed table linen.  The piece she is exhibiting here, Strands of Memory 2,  is a sculptural hanging suspended in free space, consisting of three overlapped elements. It is refreshing to see such diversity in a textile artist. I have followed Nawal Gebreel's evolution from collection to collection. His signature pleated scarves are inspired by Japanese paper-folding and shibori techniques; and have evolved into fabrics which have movement and energy of their own. Nora Fok’s (issue 8) jewellery is a long time favourite. Her work has the appearance of being organic. Nora’s delicate and intricate compositions are made from woven knitted pigmented nylon. Her work is testimony to the strong interrelation between the practices of sculpture, textiles and contemporary jewellery. [caption id="attachment_10076" align="alignleft" width="598"] Nora Fok, Spiral Curve bracelet, polyester on 3D printed ring, Vogue Vessel Brown[/caption]   The show promises to be well worth a trip to Liverpool. Bluecoat Display Centre, The Bluecoat, College Lane, Liverpool L1 3BZ, 14 March–9 May, Mon-Sat 10–5.30, Sun 12-5,  admission free,  T: +44 (0)151 709 401 www.bluecoatdisplaycentre.com