Subtlety in Woven Tapestry
Image: The Unsaid (detail), Sue Lawty.
In October we are hosting a virtual workshop with artist Sue Lawty: Subtlety in Woven Tapestry. It is aimed at intermediate / advanced level textile practitioners and will help you to generate new experimental samples that play with form and texture. With Lawty’s fine works and extensive sample and book collection to hand, this is an opportunity to delve into the exploration of material and nuance in woven tapestry. Participants will be encouraged to investigate structure, mark, movement, rhythm, interval, tone and scale to generate a number of carefully considered samples. The aim is to develop a heightened sensibility to subtle textural distinctions and bring renewed rigour to the design content of their work. Participants will leave with purpose and motivation to continue pursuing their own individual enquiry.
Image: Field of Times (detail), Sue Lawty.
Lawty's quiet, minimal and abstract works are strongly informed by the material of their construction and characterised by meticulous attention to detail. Whether working in linen, hemp, raphia or lead, she talks of the 'integrity of mark making intrinsic to particular thread or structure'. Lawty is a highly experienced artist, designer and teacher, whose work is in collections worldwide including the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, London where she held a year-long residency. As Artist in Residence Lawty collaborated on a significant new body of work with the V&A Textile Collection and in addition, she worked directly with the historic collection, discovering and uncovering objects which inspired a new acquisition for the contemporary textile collection. She also devised The World Beach Project, in association with the V&A. It ran for 5 years, from 2007 to 2012. The Project was global in scope and open to anyone, anywhere, of any age – participants simply uploaded photographs of their own patterns made on a beach with stones.
Image: Sue Lawty's Studio, photo Jerry Hardman-Jones.
Prestigious Artist Research Fellowships include Smithsonian Museums USA and the University of Leeds. The book Earth Materials was published in 2017 about her work.
For more information and a full list of materials required visit our Workshops.