‘T’ is for Textiles
Image: Leah Higgins, Ruins 9: Cottonopolis.
An upcoming exhibition at the Rheged Centre, Cumbria, is showcasing contemporary textile art from the north of England and Scotland. ‘T’ is for Textiles features work demonstrating a diverse range of styles and techniques and touches on the textile heritage of the North. It opens 27 March.
It includes three quilts from textile artist and printmaker Leah Higgins, inspired by the cotton industry in Salford and Manchester; Ruins 9: Cottonopolis (pictured) Ruins 10: Salford Mills and Ruins 11: Bridgewater. Leah lives and works in Manchester. Talking about her work, she says: “The city and surrounding region has a strong industrial heritage and I am inspired by the way man-made structures, especially those associated with industry, shape the landscape. Always there but rarely acknowledged.”
Image: Alex Standring, Fair and Fears collection.
Work from Alex Standring’s Fair and Fears collection of sculptural embroidered headpieces is also on show. The pieces take inspiration from the Byzantine mosaics in Sicily. Alex graduated from the Royal School of Needlework in 2018 with a BA in Hand Embroidery for Fashion, Interiors, Textile Art. She has interned for M Industry London and has completed work placements with Alexander McQueen, Zandra Rhodes and Hussein Chalayan.
Image: Jane Walkley, Site Interaction 3-4. Photo (c) Mat Dale.
Jane Walkley is a UK based Artist exploring the interplay between memory, place and attachment. Jane’s artistic practice considers how the regeneration of industrial landscapes in the North of England invoke memory and attachment within communities, creating site specific work. Jane uses traditional tapestry techniques whilst incorporating new material technology in the form of jesmonite. Jane takes clay impressions from the sites she documents to create moulds in which to cast jesmonite. Once cured and set these small jesmonite units are woven piece by piece on an upright loom. The finished work takes on a sculptural quality that maintains a physical and visual connection to the site, linking place, memory and materiality.
For more information about T is for Textiles visit www.rheged.com
