THE POWER OF PAUSE
The name Abigail Booth is sure to resonate in many of our readers’ minds, especially as her striking minimalist quilt work was featured in the September issue of Selvedge last year. As one half of the independent design studio Forest + Found based in north London, Abigail works with her partner Max Bainbridge to create one-off craft pieces acutely designed to reflect their local landscape throughout the home. Combining woodland palettes with architectural forms, her quilts rest in that tranquil spot between nature and city living, and hark back to an art movement that once prioritised process over final form.
The use of negative space is key to all of Abigail’s designs. As an approach that’s traditionally rooted in fine art, it comes as little surprise that she emerged into textiles from this background. “Colour, composition and form have always been integral to my work,” she explained in a recent interview with Confessions of a Design Geek, “and working with textiles was a natural progression in my fascination for experimenting with new materials.” Producing works that align with the philosophies of process art from the 1960s, Abigail focuses on experimentation, allowing herself to be led by the little changes in design that naturally occur throughout the quilting process.
This focus on experimentation enables her process to be unhurried, starting each piece with a simple observation of a found object or architectural detail. From there she sketches, designs, naturally dyes and hand-stitches almost all of her quilts. As Abigail sees it, all of the materials command a certain level of respect as they are to all intents and purposes still alive - vats of dye for instance, will forever continue to change as they age. There is a real sense of reverence for materials in this approach, and it’s one that yields only beautiful results. By tuning into the tiny details of the environment, Abigail’s quilts simmer down their surroundings, and draw out the natural power of pause.
Abigail Booth will be teaching a quilt-making workshop during London Craft Week at the Selvedge Craft Spa, 5 May 2017. Click here for more information, and to book a place: http://www.selvedge.org/shop/may-5-selvedge-craft-spa
www.forest-and-found.com
The use of negative space is key to all of Abigail’s designs. As an approach that’s traditionally rooted in fine art, it comes as little surprise that she emerged into textiles from this background. “Colour, composition and form have always been integral to my work,” she explained in a recent interview with Confessions of a Design Geek, “and working with textiles was a natural progression in my fascination for experimenting with new materials.” Producing works that align with the philosophies of process art from the 1960s, Abigail focuses on experimentation, allowing herself to be led by the little changes in design that naturally occur throughout the quilting process.
This focus on experimentation enables her process to be unhurried, starting each piece with a simple observation of a found object or architectural detail. From there she sketches, designs, naturally dyes and hand-stitches almost all of her quilts. As Abigail sees it, all of the materials command a certain level of respect as they are to all intents and purposes still alive - vats of dye for instance, will forever continue to change as they age. There is a real sense of reverence for materials in this approach, and it’s one that yields only beautiful results. By tuning into the tiny details of the environment, Abigail’s quilts simmer down their surroundings, and draw out the natural power of pause.
Abigail Booth will be teaching a quilt-making workshop during London Craft Week at the Selvedge Craft Spa, 5 May 2017. Click here for more information, and to book a place: http://www.selvedge.org/shop/may-5-selvedge-craft-spa
www.forest-and-found.com