Saturday 13 and 20 September, 10-6 p.m.: Open Studios: Mulberry Court, Chiswick House and Gardens with Rachna Garodia, Tomoko Yamanaka and Madina Joldybek

Rachna Garodia trained at the prestigious National Institute of Design in India and The Royal School of Needlework in London. Her work predominantly involves hand embroidery and weaving. Her visual language continues to evolve, combining echoes of her life in India with the experience of living in London for the past 17 years. 

Rachna’s intricately woven textures are akin to viewing a landscape, capturing the atmosphere, tone and emotion from her daily walks. Material exploration - bringing unexpected textures together in a warp has always been the starting point for Rachna's work. She juxtaposes cotton, linen, silk, nettle, hemp and wool with found materials like paper, bark, seedpods, twigs etc. All her works are unique and bespoke; each one takes shape slowly in her studio in west London and is later crafted into screens, space dividers and framed textile art.

Her commissioned pieces are held in private collections in India, U.K and America. Her book, ‘Contemporary Weaving in mixed media’ with Batsford was out in September 2022.

Tomoko Yamanaka is a knitwear designer who has been working from her London-based design studio for over 20 years, specialising in sustainable and handmade clothing. Since 2012, she has focused on her British Alpaca Project knitwear collection, using only 100% British alpaca. She collaborates with local farmers and micro-mills across Britain to create high-quality, original yarns.

It has long been her dream as a knitwear designer to develop her own yarns and create a collection with a clear understanding of where the wool comes from. Tomoko uses only natural, undyed colours and takes great joy in the process of designing yarns and blending fleece to create a range of subtle, natural shades.

Inspired by the aesthetics of Japanese minimalism and pure simplicity, her work embodies a sense of comfortable sophistication made with the highest quality craftsmanship.

In addition to designing, Tomoko is an associate lecturer at Chelsea College of Arts, specialising in knit textiles.

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Madina Joldybek is a multidisciplinary artist and educator from Kazakhstan based in London. Her practice revolves around themes of bodily integrity, womanhood, and multi-dimensional motherhood. Madina employs various mediums such as hand-tufting, drawing, sculpture, and installation in her work. In her textile work, she uses materials including Axminster and New Zealand rug wool, as well as cotton. Her socially engaged practice centers on co-creation, healing, and cultural exchange, informed by ecological concerns around the water crisis and rooted in Central Asian heritage. She creates safe spaces that amplify underrepresented voices. Selected exhibitions and public programs showcasing her work, include The Lahore Biennale 03, Biennale Matter of Art (Prague), Asia NOW (Paris), JOAN art space (Los Angeles), Three Highgate gallery (London), Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (Hong Kong), documenta fifteen (Kassel), Kingshill House (Dursley), and Aspan Gallery (Almaty). Joldybek’s work is part of the public collection at the Kasteev State Museum of Arts, as well as private collections. She is a recipient of the Prince Claus Seed Award and the inaugural B. Bubikanova Art Prize, and a member of DAVRA — a research collective fostering dynamic exchanges of experience and knowledge to strengthen the Central Asian art scene.

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