"Stitched" Exhibition Online Catalogue

Online Catalogue

‘Stitched’ is an exhibition of visually diverse textile art that is motivated by self-expression and produced by the ‘Fibre Artists – Cape Town’ group. The exhibition showcases the work of Lorraine Bode, Janet Camden-Smith, Lubi Koorts, Kim Tedder, Diana Vandeyar, Sheila Walwyn and Glenda Weidmann.

The pieces draw on diverse techniques, including fabric dying and painting, contemporary hand and machine work and the utilization of recycled and repurposed materials. The subject matter varies from abstract, still life and landscapes. The works explore, undo, and reconstruct our expectations of what working with fibre is all about.

‘Fibre Artists – Cape Town’ consists of artists who come from various backgrounds in quilting, graphic arts and fine art. They began collaborating five years ago, inspired by the desire to explore the boundaries of what could be achieved with textiles as an art medium. Though each artist’s style and approach is unique, together they are united in promoting the use of fibre as a legitimate tool for the creation of fine art.

Exhibition Opening

Thank you for the great turn out and support.

 

Extract of Sheila's opening speech:

"I’d like to welcome you and thank you for your valued support. On behalf of the FACT group, a big thank you to Cate Wood Hunter, the curator of the Casa Labia Cultural Centre, for giving us the opportunity to exhibit our work in this prestigious space.

The members of FACT, which stands for Fibre Artists Cape Town, began collaborating 5 years ago with the primary intention of promoting the use of fibre as a legitimate tool in the creation fine art. We come from various backgrounds in quilting and the graphic and fine arts, and we work in very different ways. Some of us use a beautiful piece of fabric as a starting point, others dye or paint fabric for a specific project, some use heat guns and soldering irons to create textures, and some employ very time-consuming hand-embroidery to embellish their work.

The tactile and textural qualities of fibre art are what set it apart from other fine art, and for this reason we actually requested Cate to select this exhibition from the actual works as opposed to photographs. So, when you look at the pieces, give some close attention to aspects such as distressing fabrics with heat, as in ‘Derelict’ and ‘Smoke and Mirrors’, adding found and recycled materials, as in ‘Out the Box Challenge’ and ‘Poppies’, hand embroidery, as in ‘Elements’ and ‘Losing the Thread’, dense machine quilting, as in ‘Still Life with Copper Urn’ and ‘Gotham Reflections’.

Six of the seven artists are here today and will be very happy to engage with you on aspects of their work. With that I declare this exhibition open. Enjoy and let others know about it. It runs till the 13^th of April. Thank you."

Stitched Exhibition Catalogue

FACT Exhibition, 8 March - 13 April 2014