ARCHITEXTURE Exhibition - York Embroiderers & Stitchers

The Wall - A collaborative YES project

 

Recently the York Embroiderers and Stitchers (YES) held their triennial exhibition at the Tithe Barn in Nether Poppleton, York.  The ARCHITEXTURE Exhibition ran from the 27 to 29 June 2025 and was a great success.  Work on the theme of architecture was exhibited alongside other 2D and 3D work.  As a member of YES, I was also exhibiting.

There were a number of collaborative projects including "The Wall" - see top image. YES members decorated a brick such that each "brick" represented whatever gives that member strength and stability. The bricks were presented as a wall at the exhibition, put together by Michele Webster, expressing the group's values of friendship, diversity and support. 

Dala Horse Carousels

Two charming (and rotating!) carousels were constructed by Moira Wood featuring embroidered Dala Horses that been made by YES members (inspired by a workshop led by Helen Young).

Fairytale Competition

A "Guess the Fairytale" competition was held too, where entrants had to guess which fairytale was being represented in stitch.  This was the fairytale I stitched.  Can you guess which fairytale it is?

"The House by the Woods" - Sally Stone

My exhibits included "The House by the Woods", "Our House, in the Middle of Our Street", "Stitched Trees" and a "Vase of Flowers".  You can click on the exhibit names to read about those that I have blogged about.

"Our House, in the Middle of Our Street" & some "Stitched Trees" - Sally Stone

 

Stitched Trees - Sally Stone
San Francisco Mansions (behind) - Lynne Harris

Vase of Flowers - Sally Stone

There were some great Architexture exhibits...

Architexture Exhibits - various YES artists

and lots of 2D and 3D work on other themes...

Exhibits - various YES artists

As well as a great exhibition there were bargains to be had on the sales table, tea and cake and cafe tables decorated with fresh flowers...

Sales Table

Lots of cake 

Fresh flowers on the cafe tables

Judging by the comments in the Visitor's Book the exhibition was awash with inspiration.  I hope if you missed it that this post gives you a flavour of what was on display. 

The Red Dress at Oakwell Hall, Birstall, West Yorkshire

The Red Dress

I have just been to see "The Red Dress" which is currently on display at Oakwell Hall in Birstall, West Yorkshire as part of the Woven in Kirklees festival.  It is truly magnificent! 

The Red Dress - Detail

The Red Dress - Detail

The dress was created between 2009 and 2023 by 380 embroiderers from 51 countries and is made from 87 panels of silk.  The project was instigated by artist Kirsty Macleod as a platform for people around the world, mostly women, to say something about their lives and their identities.  

The Red Dress - Detail

The Red Dress - Detail

Some of the participants have experienced war, extreme poverty, being refugees or asylum seekers.  As a result the dress has become a focal point allowing these stories to be heard and to encourage dialogue on such important but difficult topics.

The Red Dress - Detail

The Red Dress - Detail

Many of the embroiderers who worked on the dress are textile professionals and were paid for their work and continue to receive some income from project sales. They may have used techniques reflecting their culture and traditions or simple stitches to portray their personal experiences.

The Red Dress - Detail

The Red Dress - Detail

It is estimated that the dress contains 1-1.5 billion stitches, and weighs 6.8 kg.  It is made of burgundy silk dupion.  The project has many funders, including institutions, charities, social enterprises, self help projects, crowd funding campaigns and private donations.  

Views of the Red Dress

If you want to hear Kirsty talk about the Red Dress project, she is giving an online talk as part of the Embroiderers' Guild Thread Talks series on Tuesday 16 September 2025.  You can book here.

Oakwell Hall
Panelling painted to look like walnut, Westmorland bed adorned with modern crewelwork by Oakwell Broiderers, roof revealed to show oak timbers and stone tiles

Oakwell Hall, which is not far from Ikea on the M62 - if that helps you locate it, is an Elizabethan Manor in extensive grounds with a nice cafe and a car park. It was built in 1583 by John Batte and "Fieldhead", in Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley, was based on Oakwell Hall. It's worth a visit on its own but a must while the Red Dress is on display. During this exhibition, which ends on 30 June 2025, the Hall is open Saturday to Wednesday, 12 noon - 4pm. Entry is free and although priority tickets have gone, you are still able to visit but may have to queue.

Harland Miller: XXX at York Art Gallery

Harland Miller - XXX

 
Harland Miller: XXX is currently on show at York Art Gallery until 31 August 2025.  Miller, born 1964, uses the form of book covers to present his paintings which combine a love of text and abstraction.  He presents single short words in a colourful, eye popping style that draws inspiration from illuminated medieval manuscripts and Pop Artists such as Ruscha and Rauschenburg.  These works are part of his "Letter Painting" series.

Harland Miller - Bi

Here Miller has been influenced by the yellow daffodils on the city walls and the white rose of Yorkshire...

Harland Miller - York

Whilst Miller's works are very striking I liked his smaller, less refined studies better...

Harland Miller - York

Harland Miller - Moon

Harland Miller - Mojo

There is only one painting using a 5 letter word. As Miller progressed through painting words with more letters he found creating these painting with 5 letters challenging.  The advantage of this word is that 3 of the letters are "E" so they can be nested within each other...

Harland Miller - Eerie

Some of Miller's work is so abstracted it's impossible to see the individual letters..

Harland Miller - Nude

You may remember Harland Miller's previous exhibition at York Art Gallery in 2020, just before it closed as a result of the Covid pandemic, which took a similar form and was especially humorous.  You can see such works in the gallery's permanent collection...

Harland Miller - Whitby The Self Catering Years

The inspiration of Miller's upbringing in 1970s Yorkshire is definitely coming through here.

Harland Miller - Scarborough Have Faith in Cod

See more of his previous exhibition here.

Definitely worth a visit. Go see!

Our house, in the middle of our street - is it Madness?

Our house, in the middle of our street

The answer is "No," it's not anything to do with the Madness song, but it is "Our house, in the middle of our street" - a stitched version for the York Embroiderers and Stitchers (YES) ARCHITEXTURE exhibition in June 2025 (more details here.)

Pattern Piece

I thought I'd just say a little about the making of "Our house". The construction was inspired by a friend's card, which was a flower that stood up on a base. I used this idea for the basic shape and made a paper pattern. I cut the base shape out of pelmet vilene. Then using fabric and Colour Catchers, which you put in with your washing to stop colours running into other clothes, I cut out the basic shapes of a simplified version of my house. I always save Colour Catchers as they come out of the wash all sorts of colours! These were then added to the base using Bondaweb, a double-sided iron-on adhesive web which is attached to a transfer paper.

Back & Front, Before & After Machine Stitching

The whole thing was then machine stitched to make sure none of the pieces came off. To emphasise the windows at the front, I added 2 strands of Anchor soft cotton which I couched down.  I also added some detail to the door to reflect the panelling and the door furniture.  Then to cover the edges of the front path, I added french knots and drizzle stitch for interest.

Window detail before and after couching and extra door detail

Path Edge Detail - French Knots & Drizzle Stitch

Our House - Layout

Finally I made a couple of chairs from the wires off sparkling wine corks and a table from a tin base and a bobbin to go at the back of the house and "Our house, in the middle of our street" was complete.

Back of the house with table and chairs

I did have to add a cardboard support up the middle as the pelmet vilene wasn't quite stiff enough to hold the house upright and added some velcro dots to hold it together.  The tree and the shrub were added, which made the piece more stable as well as reflecting some of the plants in my garden.  I think you'd recognise it as "Our house".

Do come along and see all the buildings that will form a central display at the YES ARCHITEXTURE exhibition.

Prism Textiles - Any Other Business, Art Pavilion, Mile End, London

Lynne Chapman - The 90% Beneath (detail)

 

I have recently been to Prism Textiles' annual exhibition at the Art Pavilion, Mile End, London.  Prism are an international group of textile artists who push the boundaries of textile art and promote its visibility.  They  exhibit annually at this lovely venue.  Prism members also run a variety of free workshops during the exhibition so it's well worth getting the date in your diary for future years!

This year's title and theme was "Any Other Business" which was diversely interpreted and showcased a wide variety of techniques.  Here's a few of my favourites...

Lynne Chapman - The 90% Beneath

Lynne Chapman's iceberg shows us the 10% of life that is made up of planned events versus the other 90% which is made up of the mundane that keeps everything going or "the unsung powerhouse of chores" as Lynne puts it. How very true!

I liked the use of a carpet making technique in Sally Spinks' cigarettes - "Fine Line". The piece draws attention to an industry that kills people and continues to lobby to promote its interests...

Sally Spinks - Fine Line

Nerissa Cargill Thompson's "12 Percent" presents a pie chart of where our plastic goes: 46% incinerated, 25% goes to landfill, 17% exported, leaving only 12% recycled in the UK.  This was a colourful and unusual way to illustrate our plastic problem...

Nerissa Cargill Thompson - 12 Percent

Pauline Cattle presents beauty, pattern and colour in everyday natural processes.  I particularly liked the contrasts of colour and texture in this piece...

Pauline Cattle - Drippings l

Helen O'Leary's poignant pieces "Mending l" suggests that repairing damage to garments adds its own story to a garment's history and is restorative to both the garment and the mender whereas "Losing Touch" draws attention to our frailty as we age...

Helen O'Leary - Losing Touch 1 & Mending 1

Jeryl Church's piece "Conspicuous Consumption" made from till receipts and packaging materials draws attention to our need to address our uncontrolled consumerism.  I loved Jeryl's use of consumerist packaging to highlight this issue...

Jeryl Church - Conspicuous Consumption (detail)

Julieanne Long's piece is inspired by the worry of environmental destruction through climate change and the lack of govermental action across the world to address this issue.  I thought this piece looked like fleeting thoughts passing through one's mind...

Julieanne Long - A Sense of Place (detail)

Sharon Kearley's work considers the duality of the fragility of life and the gratitude for love and memories experienced while living.  I liked how the rust had changed the textile...

Sharon Kearley

In Amanda Bloom's "Reliquaries" we are asked to consider what things we might hold sacred.  I loved the colours and intriguing objects in Amanda's "Reliquaries"...

Amanda Bloom - Reliquaries (detail)

Sue Reddish's two works, "Patched" & "Pieced", use cotton, a textile from which Manchester made its fortune, to explore Manchester's business transitions and changing cityscape.  The colours and composition of these pieces were great...

Sue Reddish - Patched & Pieced

Judith Isaac Lewis harnesses the power of weeds, plants usually disregarded and disliked, to ecoprint and dye her work to beautiful effect...

Judith Isaac Lewis - Overlooked 1

There were, of course, many other amazing works and artists.  The above represents just a small selection.  Prism's exhibition is over for this year but do look out for next year's and visit if you can.

If you want to read about Prism's exhibition last year you can find it here.