Threads in Sheds: Wall I

Burn, 2020
Robbie La Fleur

61 x 71 cm; silk and Norwegian wool
lafleur1801@me.com

This tapestry documents a high point in my first year of pandemic isolation. A week in the woods with family was only possible after testing became available. I built dramatic bonfires each night from stacked and bundled branches.

Shiny silk glints from the yarn bundles of the hottest white and yellow flames, a reminder of family and warmth. Yet it also represents the isolation, loss, and unrest of the pandemic year - burn away, 2020.

Image: Peter Lee

Twenty Shades of Silk
Anne-Kirsti Espenes

40 x 40 cm; silk
anne.espenes@gmail.com

A mosaic tapestry. I chose two simple shapes. I chose twenty shades of silk to be the colour palette. I made sketches on paper to roughly find what I was heading for. Basic mathematics to find the size of the bits that would fit my idea for a small, squared tapestry. I wove samples to calculate the number of passes needed to get the correct height for each shape. So, in terms of form, there was no room for improvisation.

Image: Jøran Wærdahl

The Silken Ties That Bind
Irene Evison

36 x 38 x 14 cm; silk, wool weft; linen warp
irene@nearlywild.org

Unlike previous work, this is an expression purely of emotion. Its design is the endpoint of a long process, starting with many conceptual sketches, and culminating in a series of charcoal drawings closely aligned with what you see now. My aim was to find a very simple design concept which viewers could appreciate visually and find their own meaning in, and which I could appreciate for what it says to me. The hatching technique allowed me to play with the mood.

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Pale Yellow Stars and Flowers
Yoshiko Nakano

96 x 107 cm; wool, cotton, silk and silk kimono fabric

In the process of building up the work of 'Pale yellow stars and flowers', I experienced giving birth to my child, losing a very close friend and family members. It took me time to digest many kinds of emotions and experiences.

I interlaced silk threads which I had hand dyed with cherry blossom in Japan, and silk kimono fabrics and threads given to me by my grandmother with wool and cotton yarn to form my memories by tactile tapestry.

Bombyx Mori
Eleonora Budden

37 x 33 cm; wool, silk, wire, soft cord weft; linen and cotton warp
eleonora.budden@gmail.com

When I set about the design, I did some reading on silk and my final two favourite themes were The Silk Road and Bombyx Mori.

The moth looked fierce to me because of its rigid-looking antennae and the hard-working silkworm looked like it was equally challenging, although in a different way, which sparked my imagination.

I set about creating the environment, which is the worm's food source, the mulberry leaf, and placed the actors confronting each other on the stage.

In the Middle of Propagation
Anne-Elise Angas

33 x 78 cm; silk, cotton, rayon, linen weft; cotton warp
anneelisegray@hotmail.com

'In the middle of propagation' is a culmination of studies made during the pandemic. Lockdown life has created solitude but has also been overwhelming. This tapestry depicts a young lady communicating through her phone whilst the media, virus and nature propagate around her. Throughout the pandemic, gardens and the countryside have provided an escape. I have woven the pink flowers in silk, the most precious of yarns, to represent hope and to symbolize nature returning an equilibrium to everyday life.

Am I Green Enough?
Christine Paine

36 x 54 cm; mercerised cotton, silk weft; cotton warp
christine.paine@tideline.net

In 'Am I Green Enough?', silk is an integral element of my design. It gives the tapestry a beautiful lustre and luminous glow. Grey silk outlines the shapes, silver grey makes the shadows, and green silk the figure.

A defiant figure stands in front of a disintegrating object. It could be a planet in space, an iceberg melting, or our own planet earth. Can we save this object from complete disintegration? Are we green enough? Is it already too late?

Outside the Box
Hilary O'Connell

40 x 40 cm; silk noile, Chinese silk, Kakishbuf ramie, Tussah silk, Dupion silk, wool, bamboo, tencel linen weft; linen warp
hilaryoc2017@icloud.com

Inspired by an image found in The Story of Whitchurch Silk Mill. It made me think of how, in such dimness and perhaps dirt, such beautiful cloth was produced. I then abstracted the image to produce my own translation. I put the elements of the tableau but also included samples of the Silk Mill's fabric that was created later. The idea of the names came later as I became more intimate with my translation and wanted to put identity within my weaving.