Stitching ceramics

Image: Narrative Artefact 1, Michelle Taylor. All images courtesy of the artist.

An upcoming free exhibition at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum - Making Histories – will present the work of seven artists who were asked to respond to the Museum’s diverse collection of ceramics. It will include new work from mixed media artist Michelle Taylor, who explores themes of loss and damage by using printed and embroidered textiles to repair broken ceramics.

Michelle developed an ambition to ‘stitch’ broken ceramics while at art school. Searching for ways to achieve this, she researched the traditional practice of metal staple repair. This crude but effective method of fixing cracks often lends historic ceramics a Frankenstein-like appearance, but it also demonstrates great skill and underlines the objects’ importance to their original owners. Likewise, through Michelle’s use of hand embroidery, the hand of the original maker is traced and reconstructed in thread to create an intimate connection. The colours are near perfectly matched, each stitch is carefully considered, and the fragment of design becomes all-encompassing. Michelle says: “My practice challenges the possibilities of combining materials such as ceramic with textile and industrial processes with peaceful hand crafted techniques.” 

Image: Narrative Artefact 2, Michelle Taylor.

Michelle Taylor’s art practice revolves around themes of loss, damage, memory and repair. She uses found objects which might have held personal significance to past owners, and her interventions with needle and thread embody ideas of maternal care. Since graduating from the University of Wolverhampton in 2011, Michelle Taylor has exhibited at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, Harewood House, the Wedgwood Museum and the Louvre.

Image: Narrative Artefact 3, Michelle Taylor

Other artists to be included in the exhibition are Rupert Brakspear, Dylan Bowen, Rhian Malin, Rose Wallace, John Wheeldon and Jon Williams. All work will be shown alongside some of the historical objects which inspired them, from Roman kitchenware to Regency tea-sets.

The exhibition has been delayed until the summer. For the latest information visit www.warwickdc.gov.uk