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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Sharon Kearley |
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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...
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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...
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Judith Isaac Lewis - Overlooked 1 |