Embrace
Embrace 3rd September - 1st October 2013 Embrace brings together a collection of six textile artists to herald the beginning of autumn with a range of innovative and wearable designs. The practices range from digital, traditional hand weaving, hand painted or machine made and what they all have in common is a sensitive feel for fabric, texture and colour. Masako Ban James Donald Ekta Kaul Jane Keith NUNO Sheila Oakeshott Wallace#Sewell
Left: Harriet Wallace-Jones & Emma Sewell in their London studio, 2014 Š Wallace#Sewell Front cover: Jane Keith, detail of hand painted wool scarves.
MASAKO BAN Born in Tokyo. After working for an architectural firm, Masako worked as graphic designer until 2003. She has spent time in London and in 2001, she began designing accessories. Masako is fascinated with industrial materials and techniques and specialises in using acrylic. Established “acrylic� in Tokyo, 2003. Her work has a strong graphic identity, is architectural, durable and beautifully made. The Scottish Gallery also has a range of acrylic jewellery alongside her acrylic scarves.
Right: Maskao Banin her gallery shop, Tokyo, 2014
MASAKO BAN Left: Emboss scarf, polyester 100% Fabric made in Kyoto and finished in Tokyo, Japan ÂŁ55 Above: Long tie scarf, 90% rayon, 10% nylon Yarn material made in Italy, and knitted in Kyoto, Japan ÂŁ50 each
JAMES DONALD James Donald is an Edinburgh based designer, who trained at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. James is behind the creative company PickOne. “I am primarily a weaver using Scottish based materials including lamb’s wool, Shetland yarn and other locally sourced fibres. All my woven work is woven by hand on a 32 shaft computerised loom before being finished, air dried and hand finished. This current collection of woven fabrics are based on a series of images generated “craft hacking” Through the same process of “craft hacking” I have designed a series of digitally printed scarves, backed with hand dyed silk, on a smart phone with the assistance of various “apps”. The initial stages of each design are always hand drawn before being manipulated using the smart phone apps, before being printed digitally.” James Donald
Left: James Donald in his Edinburgh studio, 2014
JAMES DONALD Digital scarves on wool twill, 2014 18 x 135 cms £85 each
EKTA KAUL Ekta Kaul is a London based designer. She trained in Fashion at India’s premier design school, the National Institute of Design and she also studied textiles at the Scottish College of Textiles, Galashiels. Ekta established her studio in 2008 after winning the Craft Council’s prestigious business set-up award, Next Move. Ekta has won numberous awards for her work including Arts Council England and the British Council. “At the heart of my work lies the love of bold colour and graphic pattern & the desire to explore traditional textile techniques in a contemporary context. My practice has two strands, namely, oneoff bespoke quilts which are conceptual & labour-intensive pieces; and small batch produced functional textiles which include handdyed & printed scarves in silks, wool & handwoven cashmere. My mother’s collection of handwoven embroidered saris and phulkari pieces (counted thread hand embroidered textiles in geometric patterns) instilled an early love of embroidery and the handmade in me. I draw inspiration from handwriting, aerial photography and maps. I collect colours from nature, art and architecture. Often a flower, a painting or a detail in a building inspires new colour explorations.” Ekta Kaul, London, 2014
Left: Ekta Kaul in her London studio, 2014
EKTA KAUL Dip dyed Cashmere Shawls, 2014 73 x 220 cms £280 each
JANE KEITH Jane Keith is originally from Edinburgh and studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee where she currently teaches. She works from her studio in Balmerino, Fife. I am continuing to develop my cashmere scarves, which are a joy to create, the cashmere absorbs dye easily; printing and hand painting, each one are all unique. The print process and how the colour is applied to the cloth is a careful process; the dyes, background colour and order in which the pattern and colour is applied. Often I start off with white fabric and gradually build up the colour in layers. This adds depth and intensity to the pieces. All of the fabrics that I favour such as cashmere and linen are hand woven in local Scottish mills. Using the highest quality base cloth to work on, makes a huge difference to the way in which the fabric receives and conveys colour and the pattern applied. All of the printing is done in my studio in Balmerino.
Left: Jane Keith in her studio at Balmerino, Fife, 2013
JANE KEITH Detail of handpainted cashmere scarf 70 x 200 cms (approx) ÂŁ280
NUNO NUNO Corporation was established in Tokyo in 1984. The Japanese word nuno means ‘fabric’. NUNO textiles are incredibly beautiful to look at and handle, but are also practical, having applications for both fashion and interior. Nuno’s textiles frequently combine inherent properties of natural yarns with synthetic fibres as well as combining traditional techniques with the very latest sophisticated advances in technology. The fabrics are industrially produced; not handwoven or art pieces. Examples of NUNO fabrics, both designed by Jun’ichi Arai and Reiko Sudo have been included in many international exhibitions and are held in the permanent collections of 25 major museums worldwide including The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, The Museum of Modern Art, New York and The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
Wool Scarves 2014 29 x 200 cms (approx) ÂŁ70 each
SHEILA OAKESHOTT Sheila Oakeshott is our senior weaver in this exhibition. She was born in 1927 and lives and works in Aberdeenshire. “Each one of my scarves and shawls is hand woven on a counter balance four shaft loom which is over 100 years old. I began weaving in the 1950’s. During my post diploma year at Gray’s School of Art Aberdeen, I was taught the value of colour by Kath Whyte and influenced by the simplicity of Ethel Mairets weaving. I design on the loom as the spirit moves me. Weaving for me is a real joy. Yoshi Yamamoto commissioned me to weave fabric for his Paris and Tokyo collections in 1992. The finished garments were included in the Victoria & Albert Museums Yamamoto exhibition in 2012.”
Sheila in her studio, weaving on her counter balance four shaft loom, Aberdeenshire, 2014
SHEILA OAKESHOTT Details of handwoven scarves and shawls, 2014 Scarves, 2014 127 - 152 cms x length by 20 - 23 cms width £90 each Shawls, 2014 179 - 203 cms length x 43 - 48 cms width, 2014 £190 each
WALLACE#SEWELL Wallace#Sewell is a highly individual woven textile design studio, established by Harriet Wallace-Jones and Emma Sewell, after graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1990. The studio’s motivation is to design innovative woven fabrics exploiting industrial techniques, the collaboration thriving on a vibrant exchange of ideas from the dual perspectives of creating textiles for fashion and furnishings. Work is distinguished by a positive and confident use of colour and an intelligent use of yarn properties and standard weave structures, producing exclusive fabrics of discerning appeal. The studio works closely with Mitchell Interflex a mill in Lancashire, which weaves the larger pieces and batch production. The studio also works closely with a finishers in Huddersfield W.T. Johnson & Sons Who draw their water from their own borehole in pursuit of the softest and purest water, perfect for textile finishing.
Harriet Wallace-Jones & Emma Sewell in their London studio, 2014 Š Wallace#Sewell
Wallace#Sewell Diffusion Scarfs, 2014 20 x 165 cms 100% lambswool ÂŁ42 each