Some Contemporary Textile Artists

Billie Zawenga

Zawenga works through a process that begins with template drawings and fabric-cutting and ends with pinning and sewing. She quotes “I’m expressing myself and embracing my femininity through my choice of material, sewing is also very therapeutic and as a person who internalizes things, I find relief in it.”

What is most refreshing about her work is the way she uses chopped bits of fabric and fills them, it looks as though sections are missing, and therefore marks her works with a sense of wonder. I like how the artist uses the background to mold the elemnts within her pieces, specifically within the first( take the duvet for eaxmple). I also notice she uses many different segments of different shades of fabric to give skin tones of the figures form and shape- I would consider working this way if I was to deaw a figure with fabric. I’m also inspired by the use of writing in stich alongside the textile illustrations.

I admire the choice of colours Zawenga uses here they are rustic, and, combined with the jagged borders, the piece emotes insecurity and a sense of unsettlement.

Harriet Popham

I’m captivated by the fluid, continuous lines of stitch that Harriet Popham drapes her work with and how she allows them to flow outside the boundaries of her subject. Through this technique she gives her subjects spirit and sense of impermanence.

Sarah Davidson

This collection by Sarah Davidson reminds me of old black and white televisions. Although I tend to work quite loosely and wildly I am fond of the rigidness and precision of this work, it almost creates illusions combined with the photographs and is an interesting way of working that I’d like to experiment with.

Lauren DiCioccio

Again, I was drawn to Lauren DiCioccio through her use of wondering lines of stitch. Here they give the work the notion that the piece may unravel, and therefor they look fragile. the subjects the artist has chosen are prestigious, it’s interesting that she chooses to represent them as fragile.

Debbie Smyth

Debbie Smyth’s playful, yet sophisticated contemporary textile pieces are a statement. Her artworks are created by stretching a network of threads between accurately plotted pins and she blurs the boundaries between fine art drawings and textile art, flat and 3D work, illustration and embroidery. I especially like the way she creates shadows with tangles of thread, and the spikes she uses to lift her drawings from their outlines. The combination of these many rigid lines of black thread along with the tangles and the curved lines, against the white is what makes these drawings appear so striking.