TACTILE too A contemporary textile handling resource
(Ursula Rose Rae – image from installation?? – something that goes with the new branding colours?? Will give options to Neville full bleed image)
(one colour background plus text – try out different colours from the palette)
TACTILE too
(Plus Whitworth new logo in white)
TACTILE too Using textile materials in surprising ways, to be playful and express ideas are all common approaches used by the selected TACTILE too artists. All of the eleven textile makers are either based in or have been trained in the North West. It is exciting to see such a breadth of talent emerging from recent graduates from the region. TACTILE too artists responded to the three consecutive themes to below as the starting point for the handling resource: Textiles told: revealing practice Textiles triggered: touching memories Textiles transform: extra/ordinary
2012 2013 2014
Find out more about tactile textile resources on the blog and website below: http://tactiletextileresources.wordpress.com/
(Above will be a new website link??)
INTRODUCTION Textiles are a core part of the Whitworth's collections, and are made up of both historic and modern textiles. It is the largest and most comprehensive collection of flat textiles outside London, containing some 20,000 objects, which range in date from the 3rd century AD to the present day. Textiles provoke a need to touch them, to gain a sense of how they feel, as well as a curiosity about how they were made and with what materials. This primal instinct to touch, play with, experience and interrogate, has led the Gallery to explore different tactile ways to engage with the works. One of the most innovative and successful approaches has been the development of a handling resource called TACTILE. TACTILE was launched in 2009 with two focuses - Lines of Thought and Extraordinary Textiles. Some of the UK’s best-known and innovative textile makers were commissioned to produce works for TACTILE. The artists who explored ideas for Lines of Thought were Polly Binns, Michael Brennand-Wood, Shelly Goldsmith, Alice Kettle, Eleri Mills, Lesley Mitchison, Lynn Setterington and Michele Walker. They all produced works based around the notion of the crossover between textiles, drawing and pattern. The Extraordinary Textiles TACTILE commissions highlight textiles by Elizabeth Couzins Scott, Colette Gilmartin and Vicki Wheeler, that show their processes of working as well as changing our perceptions of everyday objects. TACTILE is designed to be used in the Gallery. TACTILE too is a contemporary textiles handling resource, showcasing the work of emerging Northwest textile makers. The TACTILE too resource is part of the Whitworth’s handling collection. It can be used alongside the existing contemporary textiles TACTILE resource in the gallery, or used in a college or university setting. Both resources will be available for students and practising textile makers to look at, handle and gain inspiration from. The TACTILE too handling resource serves to teach students about creative practice and encourage them to experiment with new techniques, as well as gain an understanding of career paths. Jennifer to amend
TACTILE too Eleven textile makers have been commissioned over three years: Laura-Jane Atkinson Martina Billson Emma Blackburn Karen Casper Chloe Hamill Harriet Lawton Bella May Leonard Ursula Rose Rae Christine Woodcock Elizabeth Jane Winstanley Elnaz Yazdani
Experiment with the layout – list of artists and/or Image here?
Eleven artists will different approaches to textiles; some cross boundaries with have fashion; others three-dimensional design; a few link to spatial design; some to socially-engaged practice; some to architecture; several to contemporary art and one to museology and academia. Apart from the production of textiles, the other shared communality is the critical engagement which is found within contemporary practice. All of the TACTILE too artists are interested in pushing the boundaries of what is understood to be textiles. The word textile originates from the latin textilis, which means woven; a woven cloth made from fibres or yarns. Fibres have many varying properties such as strength, durability, flexibility, which govern the artist, designer or users preference for the fibre, depending upon their function. For most of TACTILE too function is not the key driver, where these textiles are concept-driven. Contemporary textiles can be made from a variety of fibres, and constructed using diverse techniques. It is these decisions about the selection of materials, processes and techniques that each individual artist has opted to pursue, that makes their practice specific and remarkable. The viewer is invited to engage with tactile too, drawn by the need to investigate surprising materials and answer the questions that the textiles present. The textiles can be seen from all angles, providing further opportunities for interrogation. These close-up occurrences are rarely offered. TACTILE Too makes interactive junctures informative, inspirational, challenging, memorable and personal. “The haptic relationship between our bodies and the textiles which accompany us provide an alternative language of memory, one that can be used by the artist to locate memory in an object, a material thing. In this way memory is re-created in a re-visitable manner, but it is transformed memory, providing access to the past” Christine Woodcock TACTILE too has been designed to make the process explicit for aspiring and practicing textile artists through close-up enquiry. It is hoped that through engagement with TACTILE too, participants will be motivated to re-examine and develop their practice further too.
TACTILE TOO IMPACT Developing and extending practice Historically, the North West has always had a strong relationship with textiles. It is imperative that emerging textile makers are invested in for this industry to continue and remain relevant. This is particularly the case for contemporary textiles, which are not supported through commercial routes. The Whitworth believes that aspiring makers must have opportunities upon graduating from university, to continue to focus on the development of their practice once in the ‘real world’. This is something, which resonates with the tactile too commissioned artists. “Graduating is such a daunting task, I felt extremely anxious about what to do next. TACTILE too gave me the opportunity to carry on my work straight after leaving university. It also gave me confidence, re-assuring me that what I was doing was good in the eyes of industry professionals.” Elizabeth Winstanley TACTILE too was the first professional commission for the makers. It provided a focus, as Casper said, “a confirmation that you can carve a career out of passions”, a validation of their practice and the freedom to continue an authentic practice with manageable constraints. “The majority of commissions advertised are often large- scale in size and budget, requesting ‘experienced’ practitioners. It was refreshing to find a commission targeted specifically at emerging makers. I found TACTILE too to be a really enjoyable project, allowing me to work as I usually would.” Harriet Lawton Some of the artists used the supported commission to adapt and develop their practice due to limited access to specialist equipment since graduation. This was certainly the case for Laura-Jane Atkinson where she used the limitations to challenge her existing practice and extend it further, experimenting more intuitively with the potential of every day materials. The inclusion of an interactive audience brought new consideration. The artists found this an exciting and intriguing element of tactile too. “Considering the interaction of people within my practice, even within the making process is a prevalent idea for the development of future work.” Ursula Rae Having her work physically accessible directly influence Bella Leonard’s residency at Gawthorpe Hall. “I ensured I had samples that weren't behind glass, but for the public to feel and touch. The experience of understanding textiles as tactile objects is important to me and has been encourage by being apart of Tactile Too.” Bella Leonard
TACTILE TOO IMPACT Networks for emerging makers TACTILE too brought together textile artists at a similar stage in their career and has proved to be a supportive, nurturing outcome from sharing their experiences of the commission. “TACTILE too gave me the opportunity to meet with other like-minded individuals, some of which I have since worked with on different projects. It gave me confidence and skills working with professionals.” Chloe Hamill Several of the TACTILE too artists have subsequently collaborated as a result of connecting with fellow textile makers. It has allowed them to make connections with other’s practice. Good examples of this are the collaborative work between Atkinson and Hamill where they presented workshops together, including a Saturday event at the Whitworth for emerging makers, Textile Art Now. Leonard and Winstanley have co-developed workshops for the Imperial War Museum North, building on their practice whilst making natural links between their work, especially when using Perspex. Since the workshops, Leonard and Winstanley have created collaborative installations. The launch events for TACTILE too have proved beneficial for meeting fellow TACTILE too makers as well as educators who will be using the handling resource with their students. “TACTILE too Professional Development Day for teachers and tutors also gave me valuable insight into how my contemporaries had developed their careers since they submitted their work too.” Bella Leonard Meeting with textile contemporaries has been a bonus where the discussion around current work is possible and TACTILE too has helped to prioritise this aspect. “Being chosen to be part of Tactile Too is a boost to my artistic confidence. Selfdoubt is a constant threat and to have work validated by other respected artists helps keep this at bay. This week I have heard the following quote: “self defines itself with other” and I feel that this can be applied to art practice. The insight of others about ones work challenges you to reflect constantly and makes you really appreciate the subjectivity of the viewer. “ Christine Woodcock TACTILE too had completed the commissions, and it remains clear that a network of some form must continue for emerging textile makers, whether in partnership with other leading North West organisations or as part of the Whitworth’s role to harness the talent in the region. Upon graduation, the biggest threat is isolated practice, even for the most motivated practitioner. After all, textiles in particular, have been created, whilst other conversations take place, whether in a domestic or studio setting, there has often been a social element embedded into textiles, providing reflection upon issues and practice.
TACTILE TOO IMPACT Opening doors to new opportunities For many of the commissioned artists, TACTILE too has provided professional development possibilities including working with new audiences. Each launch of TACTILE too commissions brought the artists into contact with their users, specifically teachers and tutors through demonstrations and workshops. As a result of this, some artists were asked to present their work in school and college settings as well as deliver practical sessions based around their practice and the tactile too resource, this has certainly been the cased for Casper, presenting many embroidery demonstrations and textile professional development for teachers. “As a TACTILE Too artist, I have developed an understanding of how I can use my practice to aid and engage with educational establishments and professional development. This has helped to contextualise my practice through gaining knowledge of engaging, sustainable and accessible ways to work as an artist.” Laura-Jane Atkinson Leonard found that presenting them submission to those who would be using the TACTILE too as teaching aids was a really good way “to see how the teachers appreciated access to the work and would use it themselves. “ “TACTILE too has been a really useful way for me to begin to see how my practice can inspire others and make an excellent resource to learn from.” Elnaz Yazdani TACTILE too brought artists to meet other teams at the Whitworth, including the Arts & Health Manager, Wendy Gallagher, who had used TACTILE in previous projects. Winstanley was offered a volunteering opportunity with local hospitals to work alongside stroke patients with her TACTILE too pieces. “I am currently studying at the Royal College of Art and have taken inspiration from those stroke patient workshops to my MA thesis and I plan to research and develop my works movement and light/digital technologies to cater for both mental and physical needs”. Elizabeth Winstanley Leonard has been commissioned to create a piece of work for the re-launch of the Whitworth as part of Whitworth Young Contemporaries. Hamill worked with ESOL post-16 new arrival students using TACTILE as a stimulus to introduce English creatively. Atkinson has been asked to be a lead artist for the practitioner team developing Art School workshops for secondary and post-16 students. At a recent exhibition, Woodcock was asked ‘What next?’ and was pleased to have something as positive as TACTILE too to talk about. “The encouragement I have been given by the Whitworth team will push me to be more audacious in approaching galleries and other agencies about my work.” Christine Woodcock. With established relationships, the Whitworth will continue to invest and support the TACTILE too artists as their career paths progress.
TEXTILES TOLD: REVEALING PRACTICE The artists are:
Laura-Jane Atkinson Emma Blackburn Karen Casper Chloe Hamill
Textiles tell stories. The narratives found in textiles was the first theme for TACTILE too. Artists drew inspiration from historic samplers, playful personas, silent voices and interpretive marks as embroidery. Playing with perceptions of materials is one of Atkinson’s catalysts behind her work. She alludes to traditional embroidery techniques, placing larger-scale work in interiors, such as tables, stair treads and against walls as historic tapestry would have been located, yet Atkinson’s textiles are created today and tell the story of how the backdrops to our lives have changed. Karen Casper invents captivating characters to inhabit her textiles, which reveal their narratives through a series of stylized photo shoots. Although the overall image is enigmatic, the true message is serious intent, whether an exposé on the depletion of coral beds or a comment about female suppression with imagery inspired by Victorian mourning veils. Inspired by gallery and museum collections, Emma Blackburn looks to the traces and wear in the garment to develop stories behind the cloth, using text to provide a voice them and Blackburn’s concerns. “Red thread is used for Blackburn’s tunic and she views the creation of the dress as moving from nothing to something. The front of the tunic displays the words ‘Stop Killing Cloth’, with the back conveying the message ‘Reclaim Our Past Protect Our Future’. Should the garments be left to rest like their previous wearers, or should they be preserved for us to understand how our ancestors lived?” Emma Blackburn Chloe Hamill creates socially engaged textiles. She uses textiles as a way of giving voices to women who do not have the opportunity to express themselves freely. The textiles produced tell their story and allows the audience to learn more about hidden aspects of society. She inscribed personal experiences inscribed into the soles of shoes, to display the demographics of individuals sold into sex trafficking. Using homophone pair ‘sole’ and ‘soul’, the work attempts to evoke empathy asking you to ‘to walk in someone else’s shoes’. Shown alongside an installation of real butterflies that could be walked upon, forcing the audience to question their involvement in the issues that affect our society today. “To create beautifully stitched pieces that, on further inspection, reveal subverted imagery as a metaphor for the on-going stories of women, which go unnoticed” Chloe Hamill These works for handling ask us to search for a deeper understanding of the stories behind the inspiration, as well as the processes and techniques used. Textiles can convey powerful messages.
LAURA-JANE ATKINSON Artist Statement: Make statements distinct from other text I am an artist/designer celebrating and challenging the potential of readily available materials in combination with hand embroidery techniques. Taking inspiration from often unnoticed, playful glimpses of colour, pattern and texture within our direct surroundings, I create hand-embellished surfaces to intervene with spaces, objects or products. Process is at the core of my practice, resulting in densely layered spaces exaggerating the contrast between material choice and labour. Laura-Jane Atkinson’s practice during her degree course scrutinised the links between mathematics and embroidery, with meticulously formed patterns embroidered onto unlikely hard surfaces. It is the juxtaposition of soft textile processes and hard materials which she continues to investigate as an artist, with a strong relationship with product design too. Atkinson layers up soft textile imagery by developing traditional embroidered samplers, prints and weaves. These processes work into and onto hard surfaces, which are further embellished using everyday materials in the embroidery processes. This approach completely transforms a soft surface into a textured, highly visual hard material. For TACTILE TOO, Atkinson has employed similar approaches and techniques experimenting with size in scaled-down works using a variety of processes of enquiry to embellish a surface: • • •
Using industrial tape to recreate an embroidery pattern onto a surface Enlarging a weave design using machine embroidery Reinventing and enlarging a print pattern in hand stitch
Atkinson is half of the international art duo Killing Time, exhibiting between Manchester and Berlin, co-founder of the collective 'Juncture', formed of Embroidery graduates. Most recently Atkinson has been selected as a 2015 Paper Gallery mentee. She teaches at Manchester School of Art on Ba(Hons) Textiles in Practice. Materials: Wood, wood vinyl veneer, electrical tape, plastic lacing, rope, high visibility fabric, transparent PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and embroidery threads Techniques: Embroidery, appliqué, screen-printing, couching, stenciling, drilling, weaving and knit Web Links: http://cargocollective.com/laurajaneatkinson http://degreeshow.mmu.ac.uk/2012/Laura-JaneAtkinson/
EMMA BLACKBURN Artist Statement My work has a historical basis, involving the staining and decomposition of ancient cloth that ‘speaks’ of human life. I create contemporary interventions with museum collections and their audiences, to dig out untold or hidden narratives embedded within archive objects, in particular textile artefacts; I look to reveal their relationships with people, places and moments in time. Cloth and stitch are dominant in most of my work, combined with braiding, knotting, printing and dyeing methods. Text is also utilised, giving the objects a ‘voice’ - whether that be a whisper of a chain stitch; or big appliqué lettering that SHOUTS. I undo, fray, bleach, cut and remove stitches, and ‘ruin’ the work until it is suggestive of ancient cloth that evokes images of poverty and labour, but also of love, through constant repair and patching-up. These explorations are rooted in historic research, echoing how curators interpret, conserve and present historic textiles to the pubic. Emma Blackburn’s work aims to encourage people to think differently about fragmented, ‘dead’ and hidden objects and their connection with the past. Using traditional techniques Blackburn draws attention to the dramatic relationship between old and new; past and present; permanence and fragility. The passage of time is presented through decoration, pattern, layering, shadows, and solid and translucent materials. The Whitworth’s collection of Coptic textiles informed Blackburn’s response to TACTILE too - a vast collection of textile fragments collected from various burial sites in Upper Egypt. The children’s tunics often display erratic, yet beautiful criss-cross darning to patch-up holes. Blackburn created a child’s tunic for tactile too, conveying the fragile relationship between life and death, or more specifically, the life and death of cloth. “The children’s tunics hold poignancy, an unsettling sense of bereavement and loss. It’s stretched, stained and decomposed state shares traces of human existence.” Emma Blackburn In Ancient Egypt, the words “weaving” and “being” are the same. The Goddess Iris is seen as the “life-giver” and portrayed as a weaver, wearing a red sash where red signifies “fertility” and the transition point from nothing to something. Blackburn received the Lancashire Textile Artist Award 2013/14, resulting in a residency and exhibition at Helmshore Mill, Cotton Folk: The War the Weft. Most recently she has led ‘The Great Peoples Poppy’ project ‘Truce’, Mid Pennine Arts. Materials: Recycled fabrics, net, threads, dyes, cotton, pigment, discharge and bleach Techniques: Hand embroidery, braiding, macramé, tablet weaving, screen-printing, dyeing, dressmaking and digital print technology Web Links: http://www.aa2a.org/artists/emma_blackburn https://www.facebook.com/EmmaBlackburn.Textiles
"As a follow up to last year's course a student in Year 11 was inspired by Karen Casper's work and made a bodice using stitched and worked organza, lace etc. I'm hoping she'll get an A!� A Greater Manchester Teacher, 2014
KAREN CASPER Artist Statement: I create complex hand crafted garments using a combination of traditional textile techniques and contemporary technology with vintage aesthetics to create futuristic pieces that ultimately crossover between art and fashion. I Iike to experiment, develop and push my samples, which is an important part of the design process and I thrive on working with a range of mixed media and techniques to produce unique contemporary textiles. I have a passion for all things vintage and wherever possible I try to incorporate this into my work by embellishing with vintage items such as lace or buttons. I particularly enjoy working with a narrative. In the past, I have used fairytale enchantment, childhood memories, vintage fairground, underwater world and Victorian mourning period as inspiration. Karen Casper produces innovative and beautiful tactile pieces of work. Her work covers a number of genres; costume, editorials, gallery installations and fashion design as part of her textile label Tulle and Candyfloss. For Underwater Love meets Primal Futurism, Casper explored the environmental issues which threaten coral reefs and their habitats. Through innovative textile creation, Casper conveys the textures, colours and contours of the underwater world. Her ideas manifested as a cape, which Casper refers to as Miss Coral. The cape reflects the growth and cultivation of the natural world - something otherworldly. Miss Coral represents the ‘day’ colours of certain coral species with the glow in the dark ‘night’ version representing the electric creatures of the Abyss. For the TACTILE too commission, Casper used the same techniques, inspiration and concept that was used for the cape, changing the form to that of a bodice. Once again the bodice takes on one character for the day, and another for the evening, fully employing the full potential of the glow in the dark specialist threads, which are woven into the coral-like structure. Casper has completed her MA in textiles at Manchester Metropolitan University. She creates bespoke headwear for special occasions, including X-Factor Live tours. Casper has had two commissions at Gawthorpe Hall and Rufford Old Hall in 2013 and exhibited at Calais’ Lace and Fashion Museum and at Riga’s Capital of Culture Surprising Laces exhibition. Materials: Vintage garments, lace, buttons, pearls, tulle, latex, threads, glow-in-the-dark thread, velvet, wire and dissolvable embroidery fabric Techniques: Machine embroidery, dissolvable fabric embroidery, latex moulding, digital printing, wire sculpting, devoré, quilting and fabric manipulation Web Links: http://www.tulleandcandyfloss.co.uk/ http://tulleandcandyfloss.blogspot.co.uk/
CHLOE HAMILL Artist Statement: My current practice plays on the connotations of material and imagery to express the stories of individuals who might otherwise go unheard. The pieces of work are not stand-alone; rather, these tangible objects are intended to trigger discussion and thus raise social consciousness through their participatory nature. Key techniques to my work are stitch, screen-printing, three-dimensional construction and applique. Engaging and collaborating with the public is an important element to my practice. Much of my textile pieces derived from different experiences working with individuals, including survivors of sex trafficking in Bangalore, India, Rainbow Haven, a drop in centre for Refugees and Asylum Seekers and groups of children in the UK and Kosovo. Chloe Hamill is passionate about using art to give a voice to women who do not have the opportunity to express themselves freely. Social interactions are a key aspect of Hamill’s working process. In fact, interactions play a role throughout her practice, from the inception of the idea through to open creative discussion; the inclusion of the co-collaborator’s stitch to the viewer’s interaction with the final three-dimensional object. Hamill is keen to illustrate the intertwined process of collaboration and research. She has pursued collaborative embroidery work with refugees, asylum seekers, women in Kosovo and women rescued from sex trafficking in India, with the aim of using embroidery as a tool of empowerment and design. The artist researches individual testimonies through personal interaction in conjunction with statistical information to inform her visualisation of sampling. At the time of the TACTILE too commission, Hamill had a chance encounter with a remarkable 95-year-old woman (whose pseudonym is Hilda Feather), who became the inspiration for Textiles Told. Chatting about their shared love of embroidery, Hamill discovered Hilda Feather’s incredible past; the first woman from her school to attend Oxford University and she helped to rescue female Jews from Germany in the forties. Hamill was interested in the idea that we are walking backwards into our future, while some are looking back at their past. This connected with Feather’s tales and Hamill’s textiles practice with a focus on providing a voice for Manchester women. Hamill has successfully completed the MA course in Textiles at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is currently working on a project with women in Kosovo and Manchester, which will result in an exhibition at the People’s History Museum: ‘Voices of Kosovo in Manchester’. Materials: Fair Trade organic cotton, linen, thread, metallic threads and kapok Techniques: Writing, researching, drawing, machine stitch, multihead, screen printing, threedimensional construction, piping, applique, hand stitch and collaboration Web Links: http://www.chloehamill.co.uk/About.html http://creativeboom.co.uk/news/a-stitch-in-time-for-female-refugees/
TEXTILES TRIGGERED: TOUCHING MEMORIES The artists are:
Harriet Lawton Bella May Leonard Elizabeth Jane Winstanley
Tactile experiences can trigger and evoke memories. These three artists have taken different approaches to use textiles to spark connections, fragmented thoughts and recollections through playful interactions with their pieces. Lawton builds on the memento function held by both textiles and ceramic objects. Using her grandparent’s china collection, Lawton explores the memories held by these objects. “With traditional English tea sets sitting alongside Delft pottery and souvenirs of the Primitive Methodist church, this collection tells the story of my grandparent’s life, travels and heritage.” Harriet Lawton The ceramics inspired textile pieces, which reflect the way both materials trigger our subconscious, where Lawton hoped that as the viewer explores the work, they would feel a sense of nostalgia and begin to piece together their own subconscious narrative. Bella May Leonard explores the evocative nature of domestic textiles, investigating the extent to which materials found in modern homes such as electrical cable, string, tape or washing line can be manipulated. “I aim to subtly provoke memories of home life and the evolving values of domesticity in our society.” Bella May Leonard Unusual thread, for example a shoelace, stitched in a pattern inspired from historic textiles, can subtly provoke the viewer to reflect and reassess their memories or understanding of both embroidery and conventionally mundane materials. Recognisable materials can also instigate and inspire further making by those who may have previous reservations in their own creativity. Using the tactile to stimulate childhood memories of historical and traditional toys are the primary concern for Elizabeth Winstanley. “Since digital gaming and design is such a major part of a child’s ‘play time’ now, I’d like to bring back memories of how pleasurable it was to be outdoors or indoors with a hand crafted object.” Elizabeth Winstanley Winstanley’s work invites the participant to move, touch and engage with her threedimensional constructs. Simple geometric shapes reiterate early learning activities. The use of bright vivid colours enhances this child like notion, capturing what excited us when we were children.
HARRIET LAWTON Artist Statement: Through the exploration of paper, ceramic and textiles, my practice highlights the beauty of objects, in particular china mementoes. Contemporary interpretations of traditional patterning, my design pieces and art objects feature remediated marks, patterns and motifs taken from various cultures and eras. Each series within my work celebrates the value of a specific collection and explores the memento function of its objects. Previous inspirations have included discarded willow pattern pieces from The Johnson’s Tiles Factory in Stoke-on-Trent; traditional artisan tiles from the city of Madrid; and, most recently, a collection of imperfect objects from the Wakefield Museum archive. My work plays with illusion and scale; crossing materials, techniques and surfaces. Ceramics are cut like a textile, textiles are manipulated to allude to the form of a 3D object and patterns transfer from objects to 2D fabric and paper. These complex techniques are used to create large-scale immersive installations, which ultimately cause the viewer to question what is textile and what is ceramic? For TACTILE too, Lawton used ceramics from her grandparents china collection, drawn from English bone china tea sets, Delft pottery and Methodist church souvenir ceramics. She combines and manipulates compositions made from water-jet cut ceramics and digitally printed textile trompe l’oeil collages. Water-jet cutting allows Lawton to push the sense of illusion in the work even further. She water-jet cut china embellishments for the fabric surface, adding detail through transfer print and flock to give a tactile quality to the once fragile material. The viewer is encouraged to question the materials in the piece and is forced to explore through touch to fully understand what is textile and what is ceramic? Some of the ceramic pieces in Lawton’s grandparents’ collection had been lovingly repaired, treasured enough to be kept despite damage. This concern for repair led Lawton to Japanese Kintsugi, using it in her work through traditional embroidery repair techniques such as darning and insertion stitch, echoing the breakage story. Lawton has a studio at The Artworks in Halifax, where she also teaches and works as a Trainee Curator for the 1830 Gallery. She is currently undertaking an AA2A placement at York College and teaching textiles as a WEA tutor. Materials: Silk, ceramics, thread, metallic threads and pelmet craft Techniques: Digital printing onto fabric, hand stitch embroidery, digital transfer printing, screen printing, flocking, foiling, watercolour paints, laser cutting, water-jet cutting, Japanese kintsugi embroidery Web Links: http://harrietlawton.co.uk
BELLA MAY LEONARD Artist Statement: My practice celebrates embroidery as a contemporary art form. Working from historic textiles, I then use domestic and usually man-made materials to re-interpret traditional stitch techniques. Re-appropriating easily recognisable materials for threads, such as electrical wire, I create sculptural work emphasising embroidery as an accessible, expressive art. Using clear perspex to reveal and incorporate the conventionally unseen back of the stitch with the front, I experiment with layering three-dimensional pattern. Although a time consuming technique, the presence of the hand is vital for me. Through making large-scale hand-stitched works, I explore embellishment and its role as ornamentation today in interior or exterior surface and space. For TACTILE Too, Leonard’s inspiration was architecture, traditional textiles and folk art patterns. These patterns informed the designs for laser cut holes in cast acrylic tiles, which would then be stitched by hand with found, collected and pre-used materials. It was important to Leonard that the scale and finish of the tile meant it was robust and easy to handle for all ages. The translucent coloured acrylic tiles reveal the stitch, front and back, exposing the process of hand embroidery. The acrylic tiles interact with light when handled, casting colour and shadows to create new shapes and textures as they overlap when held up together. The patterned tile, held up to a light or against a window conceals and reveals, as our memories are partially recollected and triggered by new sights and experiences. Leonard’s selection of thread is unconventional for embroidery, yet elements of her embroidery are familiar such as traditional stitch, and these are combined with newly created stitches developed in response to exploring the materiality of unexpected threads. The threads can be identified once the viewer looks more closely, provoking discussion and triggering memories of their own personal connections with the everyday, common threads such as washing lines and cable ties. Leonard has been commissioned in 2014 to make a new work for Whitworth Young Contemporaries, part of Circuit, which is a Plus Tate initiative to promote young people’s voice in galleries. During 2015, she will be making research trips to India and Mexico to develop partnerships with international textile makers. Materials: Acrylic tiles, electrical wire, cable ties, synthetic trimmings and plastic yarn Techniques: Embroidery, laser-cutting, construction, sculpture, installation Web Links: http://www.bellamayleonard.com/
ELIZABETH JANE WINSTANLEY Artist Statement: I am a designer maker with an interest in illusions. Experimenting with alternative media, pushing the boundaries of embroidery I create illusions of line and colour by utilising pattern and light emitting wire. I explore the space between two-dimensional and three-dimensional pattern through screen-printing onto acrylics. Movement and tactile elements are paramount to create illusions, which are consistent throughout this body of work. The work can be manufactured to accommodate a range of scale and palettes and be applied to a wide area of design outcomes. Winstanley feels that mass production has led to less well-crafted objects. Her work combines digital techniques used to create her materials, which are crafted together by hand, combining new and old techniques that produce a higher quality outcome than something mass produced and put together by a machine. Her process often starts with the exploration of everyday objects, which may be recycled materials. One starting point was the inner tubes of biro pens. When building these units together Winstanley noticed that when the tubes were layered they created illusions of line. Building on this, Winstanley developed her own units using laser cut geometric shapes. It was apparent that the units needed to be joined together to allow for movement to create an illusion. Threaded rods and dome nuts seemed the perfect assemble solution and allowed enough tension for the structures to hold their shape while allowing room for manipulation. These malleable structures create illusions through the layering of coloured acrylics and wood. Transforming the primary coloured acrylics into secondary colours as well. When handling these samples, over lapping them in order to see two layers, you begin to see the illusions of line. The colourful structures demand to touched and played with. Some have a snake-like quality, others are chameleon-like as they change form and shape, along with colour as different combinations of colour evolve when held to the light. Winstanley tries to push the boundaries of embroidery, creating pattern and fabric in alternative media. She hand crafts the ‘fabrics’ with an almost traditional weave-like method. This particular body of work was developed during her final year at University and has worked well on a smaller scale as part of the tactile too resource. Winstanley is interested in the addition of light from electrical sources introducing an additional kinetic element to her work. Winstanley is keen to see how her ideas would work in sensory outcomes and rehabilitation for mental and physical health patients. Winstanley has collaborated with Bella Leonard on sensory workshops in at The IWM North and a sculptural installation at Victoria Baths, as part of Juncture. She is currently studying on the MA Textiles programme at the Royal College of Art. Materials: Perspex, Wood, Techniques: laser-cutting Web Links: http://www.elizabethjanewinstanley.com/
TEXTILES TRANSFORM: EXTRA/ORDINARY The artists are:
Martina Billson Ursula Rose Rae Christine Woodcock Elnaz Yazdani
Taking the ordinary into the extraordinary was the third theme, which TACTILE too artists explored. Four artists responded to this concept bringing their own specific interpretation to what ordinary to extraordinary may encompass. Using a combination of regular textiles such as lycra and silks with surprising materials like Bunsen burner tubing was one approach to pushing beyond ordinary. This was further added to by transforming lycra using a pin-tuck technique to create a soft, textured surface, which invites touch through its intriguing linear forms. “Interestingly, it is not only the surface that changes, the linear stitches covering the fabric merge the colour tones together and create a new one.” Martina Billson Billson’s work shows exciting new ways that textiles can be transformed from a fabric to three-dimensional forms, demonstration how this shift can change the way in which we perceive the original textile. Urusula Rae aims to create immersive environment using contemporary textiles, generally on a large scale to fill a room or cover the side of building, enticing and enabling chance encounters observers. She takes flat materials and constructs them into three-dimensional forms, which inhabit spaces to make textiles sculptural. By working with unusual materials such as plastics, enables an exploration of new material qualities, expanding the potential of both the materials and techniques. The use of alternative materials suggests futuristic ideas of what textiles could become. “How could textiles be transformed in the future? I want work to spark questions such as– How is this textiles? What can textiles be?” Ursula Rae Christine Woodcock completely transforms her materials through time-consuming processes. She takes cable ties, acrylic boning, malleable, soft metals such as aluminium and embroiders them with machine satin stitch. These are then either attached by hand or machine. The final sculptural forms are reminiscent of landscapes, with deep furrows and textured forms in light or brooding colours, yet not intentionally representational, they are incredibly compelling. As a child, Elnaz Yazdani appreciated the transformative qualities of objects, changing the use of the a chair from tea party to a house, just by changing the purpose in her mind and how the object was interacted with. Human interaction is an important element to Yazdani’s work and part of the transformative process. Her magnetic embroidery transforms flat to three-dimensional, transforms in shape, scale and use. “When you take something scientific like magnetism which can be considered aesthetically cold and combine it with a craft like embroidery you can begin to create something beautiful and futuristic.” Elnaz Yazdani
Artist Statement:
MARTINA BILLSON
With a conceptual approach to design I develop three-dimensional forms that consider a sensual need for tactility. Inspired by tactile, surface and form, my work explores functional textile design. Intrigued by unusual materials I take a very experimental approach, crossing several processes and outputs to design. My studies helped me develop a wide knowledge of materiality, both conventional and unconventional within textile design, which I use through my process of making. I approach my work hands on with a fascination for material, form and function. Through drawing, material research and play I aim to create design that has a personal connection to its user, in both touch and function. Whilst studying Textiles in Practice at Manchester Metropolitan University, Billson became fascinated by nomadism; a lifestyle based on drifting and discovery. Her aim was to create a product, which would adapt with and accommodate for the nomad. The product had to be portable, multi-functional and exist as a companion to its user, allowing the nomad to travel light but have a place of comfort as they travelled. For TACTILE too, Billson has shared the sampling and material exploration which took place in order to create her product. She has exposed her process, demonstrating clearing the transformation of surfaces to create comfortable, and durable, tactile textiles. Using machine embroidery, the pin-tuck technique, with a twin-needle, became a continuous method on the surfaces of Billson’s fabrics. Colour plays an important role in Billson’s work. She carried out research into frogs and their protective, brightly, coloured backs, selected fabrics and embroidery threads, which would resemble a protective skin for the nomad. Billson favours colours that are a mix of bold, striking and even fluorescent tones against dull greys and white to soften the palette. The colours assist in creating a safe environment for the nomad, alerting any unwanted or wanted guests, like colour is used in nature. After developing a range of foundling fabrics, Billson then turns her attention to adding a three dimensionality to them using various foams. These foams create multiple surfaces, facilitating an immersive comfortable surrounding. The textiles act as a companion to the user, the person feels in a place of comfort, of rest and solitude, feelings that are evoked from the textiles that surround them as they sit or lay on it. Upon graduation, Billson continues to practice as a textile artist, driven by her passion to create contemporary 2D fabrics, which metamorphose into 3D quasi-functional forms. Materials: Fabric including lycra, PVC, Bunsen burner tubing, acrylic, tarpaulin, thread, and foam Techniques: Machine stitch and embroidery, laser cutting, 3D construction, fabric manipulation Web Links: http://www.martinabillson.co.uk/
Another image hear to make one image from a composite of 3
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Artist Statement:
URSULA ROSE RAE
Intrigued by the environments that surround us in the everyday, that are constructed around us, and engulf the spaces we inhabit, I have become aware of the sterile, impersonal spaces that are often created. In response to this, my practice explores the re-enchantment of environments through the creation of immersive, large-scale installation. My education within Textiles has resulted in her challenging the techniques and ideals usually associated with the discipline. This has led to a movement away from the traditions of textiles upon cloth, and into working threedimensionally within space. With a strong focus on the exploration of tactile material manipulation and experimentations in surface quality, my practice is heavily focused on the involvement of making and experimenting, considering the impact upon the senses through this making process. I believe that physical awareness and involvement within the making process enables me to create works that can impact strongly upon their surrounding space and the people that frequent them, creating seemingly imaginative and experiential environments. Rae’s work is generally on a large scale, creating environments to surround people; for them to become immersed in and to explore the structures created around them. The importance of experiencing these sensory qualities through the making process is paramount; it is equally important that small-scale samples are as intriguing and appealing to the senses as large-scale. Rae explores the senses whilst making, and want the users to experience this, to contemplate and feel connections to the samples through their own explorations. This sensory experience is created through the choice of materials within her work. By using iridescent materials there are light changing surfaces. The colours of the piece fluctuate depending on the movement, angles that the samples are viewed from and the surrounding light. These qualities intrigue people to look closer and adapt the works into their own forms. Using repetition Rae creates singular pieces constructed from multiples, providing great flexibility of movement to the piece, enabling users to play and sculpt it. Rae asks TACTILE too users to question how can we keep transforming the potential of textiles? Her maquettes are intriguing and spark thoughts and ideas in the minds of those exploring and playing with them. Rae currently works at Loop, which has inspired her to shift the scale of her work to larger immersive experiences working in collaboration with architects and designers. Materials: Wood, vinyl, iridescent cellophane, metal rivets and paper clips Techniques: Digital printing onto cellophane, laser cutting Web Links: http://www.ursularae.co.uk/ Ursula Rose Rae, Iridescent Immersions 2014, Vimeo Film
Artist Statement:
CHRISTINE WOODSTOCK
Inspired by the British landscape, my current work is constructed stitch drawing. Whilst not a direct translation, it aims to show some of the qualities perceived there. My physical embodied presence within the landscape is the main source of reference to inform artistic practice. The landscape is used as a site for temporary interventions, which redefine perception of it. Line as the essence of the work is used both as trace and thread and is either additive or reductive. Scale, contrasts in factors such as light/dark, soft/ hard and alterations in volume are examined. Themes of revelation and the sublime are considered in terms of how they are manifested in the landscape. They offer the potential for both transcendent beauty and terror. My practice is grounded by research and builds upon the work of land artists and those who consider issues of spirituality and the sublime. Woodcock’s current work, inspired by the British landscape, has developed by taking a limited process on a journey of discovery. The limits and the constraints paradoxically have helped produce novel solutions. Most people acknowledge the sensory nature of textiles in terms of the visual and tactile but at times their sound and smell is emotive, powerful triggers, which unlock a memory. However, the desire to touch a piece of textile is often overwhelming and it is the sense of touch, which often evokes both conscious and unconscious recollections. Woodcock is passionate about stitch and all it’s positive attributes that we inherently understand, working industriously to explore and discover the ‘right’ stitch. For TACTILE too, Woodcock created a series of tonal stitched samples, which will have varying fluidity created by processes used. The work is not a direct translation of the landscape but uses its “universality” to trigger emotions. This idea is one that Barbara Hepworth spoke of in relation to her work; that connecting a work of art to a specific place can be limiting by suggesting it is necessary to know the place to understand the work. Rather, the landscape triggered the emotion that prompted her to make the sculpture and so then her work transcends place to create a connection with the viewer and the landscape. Woodcock’s work is machine stitched on non-computerised machines, paralleling working with these machines to her research as an embodied presence within the landscape, at times finding this process meditative and feeling at one with the machine. She challenges the sewing machine by using unconventional materials and by persistence in developing a technique that works with a particular model. Woodcock showed her work at the Knitting & Stitching Show 2014, Alexandra Palace. Materials: Threads, cotton yarn, cable ties, beads, polyester boning Techniques: Machine stitch embroidery using a faggotting machine and a Pfaff machine, hand stitch, embroidery used to create 3D structures Web Links: http://www.chriswoodcock.wordpress.com
ELNAZ YAZDANI Artist Statement: ‘Magnetism- the ability to attract, allure, fascinate, enchant and pull’ I am an artist designer of a hybrid nature whose work crosses the contextual boundaries between sculpture, body adornment, fashion, costume and architectural installation. I specialise in embroidery. My practice is focused on challenging the process of embroidery by combining scientific processes. Throughout the past year I have combined the scientific process of magnetism with embroidery. By experimenting with the forces of attraction and repulsion I have discovered new ways in which to embellish, attach and connect materials through magnetism. I am inspired by the idea of the future body and human evolution as well as future architectural spaces. I work with the human form, non-traditional textile materials and filmmaking to blur the boundaries between body, material and architecture. For Elnaz Yazdani, being creative has always meant being resourceful and organised with her materials. As a child, her mother often found her organising her toys rather than playing with them. However in her head she was playing, each toy would and could have a different use. A chair used for a tea party could be successfully transformed into a dolls house for smaller objects. Today, Yazdani can still see this childhood thinking within her textile practice today. Her work combines the warmth and chaotic aspects of craft with the organised nature of scientific processes. These two opposites work well within her textiles and allow them to transform into something extra ordinary. Yazdani’s tactile piece combines both the craft of embroidery with the scientific process of magnetism. She has created a collapsible textile piece called ‘Magnetise’. The piece is made up of a series of textile tubes using the rouleaux technique. These singular textile tube pieces when combined can be transformed into large-scale magnetic/textile installations. Yazdani’s process of embroidery and magnetism allows the viewer to question what a stitch is? Or what a stitch can be? Does it have to stay still? Can it be interactive? Does it have to be thread? ‘Magnetise’ has traditional aesthetics within the piece as the structure performs similar to embroidery embellishments and fastenings however the exciting element is that it is all connected through magnetism. The interactive nature of the piece can be applied and adapted to many different areas of design, and is intended to be handled working as an excellent teaching resource for young people to engage with. Materials: Magnets, ceramics, thread, metallic threads and fabric Techniques: Embroidery machine stitch, hand stitch embroidery, laser cutting, 3D material manipulation and construction Web Links: http://www.elnazyazdani.com Film of Magnetise
USING TACTILE TOO IN A COLLEGE SETTING TACTILE Too resources: Karen Casper and Chloe Hamill Learners were in the first year of a two-year course and this was their first comprehensive brief, entitled, ‘Extraordinary Ordinariness’. The specialist Units assessed in the brief are Design Methods and Embroidered Textiles. Learners are following the Design Development Cycle, using inspiration from artists and designers who use stitch, to each produce a variety of embroidered samples and ultimately a stitched panel, which represents a snapshot of themselves to date. Utilising the resource has enabled learners to examine two responses from individuals to the Tactile too commission. It has facilitated the understanding of the Design Development Cycle, from initial ideas, sampling, final outcome and evaluation, which can form a blueprint for an approach learners may adopt during this brief. The contrast in subject matter, ideas and concepts adopted by Chloe and Karen has given students an insight into possible themes and methods of reference suitable for design development. The inclusion of sketchbooks is key to the success of the resource. There are few opportunities for learners to spend any time holding and absorbing the contents of graduate, postgraduate or professional sketchbooks elsewhere, except through secondary research. Exploring work that was created by Degree and Masters students about to embark on their creative journey, rather than seasoned professionals, added an extra dimension to learning. Learners felt a connection due to the closeness of the age of the artists and the potentially similar progression route. In addition, the knowledge of the high grading of the artists at degree level aided the expectations of quality and depth of work expected for higher grading criteria. As a Tutor, the opportunity to have a resource usually accessed inside a gallery setting in the studio was both challenging and liberating. The responsibility of keeping the contents of the boxes safe and instilling the discipline of correct handling of the contents in the learners has been a new experience. The washing of hands and the preparation of clean surfaces on which to view the contents of the Tactile too boxes has added a reverence and extra dimension to the idea of primary research! Learners were introduced to the procedures of curatorship and the importance of archival integrity to conserve work for the future. Careful planning and preparation is needed to facilitate this resource in the studio environment within a college. I would suggest that the resource should be loaned to an individual tutor, rather than a whole department as the safeguarding of the contents could become diluted and a secure store, backed by technical assistance, is essential for the peace of mind of the tutor! Learners have gained significant knowledge as a result of handling and closely examining the work of Karen and Chloe, leading to quantitative improvements in their assessment grades. Maria Foran Course Tutor, year 1 BTEC Extended Diploma in Art & Design, Level 3 at The Manchester College, Shena Simon Campus. 25 November 2013
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HOW TO USE TACTILE TOO It is a straightforward process to use TACTILE too. TACTILE too can be used in the gallery or in a school or college setting. You can choose up to two of the eleven resources to loan out at one time for a period up to two weeks if TACTILE too is to be used outside of the gallery. You can choose up to four of the eleven resources if you are using TACTILE too in the gallery. All users need to go through a brief induction prior to using or loaning TACTILE too. The resource is the responsibility of the teacher/tutor making the booking and attending the induction. When TACTILE too is used off-site, please ensure that the resource is locked up in a safe cupboard when not in use, and managed by a technical assistant. Simple steps Step 1:
Decide which resources you would like to book out and the dates for the booking
Step 2:
Make a booking via the phone on 0161 275 7453 or email whitworth@manchester.ac.uk
Step 3:
When making the booking, arrange a time and date for a brief 30 minute induction. If loaning the resource, coincide the induction and collection date. If using TACTILE too in the gallery, ask for a Collection Centre or Student Producer Volunteer to provide the induction at the beginning of your session.
Step 4:
When using TACTILE too allow 1-2 tables per resource. Ensure that the tables are clean, particularly generally used for practical work.
Step 5:
Ensure that food and drinks are not in the same room to avoid spillages.
Step 6:
Wash hands prior to using the resource.
Step 7:
Only use pencil around the TACTILE too textiles.
Step 8:
Handle the textiles, make observational drawings and annotations about the ideas, processes and techniques. Look in the fact files for career paths and additional information.
Step 9:
Take photographs after Step 8.
Step 10:
Take out one tray at a time from each box and use the images on the box to aid replacement of the trays in the right order. ENJOY USING TACTILE TOO
HOW TO BOOK TACTILE and TACTILE too are free and can be used anywhere in the galleries. TACTILE too can be booked to use in your college or university. Please phone us on 0161 275 7453 to arrange a booking.
Find out more about tactile textile resources on the blog below: http://tactiletextileresources.wordpress.com/ (CHECK)
The Whitworth The University of Manchester Oxford Road | Manchester | M15 6ER t: 0161 275 7450 e: whitworth@manchester.ac.uk Opening times: Mon to Sat 10am-5pm Thursday have an extended opening time until 9pm Sun 12pm-4pm
Page 44 Back page Magazine guidelines recommend a black 3mm wide spine (not sure we have to do this?) The University of Manchester logo positioned bottom right Image can be on the back cover‌ Would it be possible to add more background to the bottom of this or go in closer to make a full bleed image?