Text(-ile) Monographies: Memories, Migration and Moon Landing
Julia Hall, “STEVE - A Life worth Saving (Germany, arr. 1939)”, detail, oil and embroidery on linen canvas. Photo: Birgitta Huse.
“Connections between different forms of knowledge like mathematics, music and weaving are studied, personal ideas and memories, thoughts about our world and migration and queer experiences are written down with yarns and fabrics and shared with others in the form of readable texts.”
“Naked selfies, G-strings, tattoos, and love quotes are all part of Talia Ramkilawan’s work…”
“The installation and collaboration between Helen Caddick and Margo Selby triggered memories of the moment I witnessed the TV news about the first landing on the moon in 1969 as a child.”
Text(-ile) Monographies: Memories, Migration and Moon Landing
Collect Craft Fair 2024 at Somerset House
★★★★
WRITTEN BY DR BIRGITTA HUSE, 29.02.2024
A monography is a “detailed written study of a single specialised subject or an aspect of it”. Several of the most interesting text(-ile) creations at this years’ fair are dedicated towards studying some deeper layers of meaning behind what is visible at first sight. Textiles are, again, a clearly visible and important part of Collect fair for contemporary craft and design – the twentieth of its kind, at Somerset House.
Anthony Stevens focuses on the development of his thoughts. Candida Stevens Gallery explains: “Eight white pages, his first thoughts of the day, are arranged in a circle whilst five yellow pages comprising thoughts from after chanting, form a cross though the piece. Through this arrangement we feel the way in which Stevens' thoughts seem to swirl and bubble up to the surface of his consciousness, existential concerns colliding with playful phrases and slogans to create a series of works that are at once humorous and thought-provoking. Concerns for the impact of technology and power dynamics on our individuality and connection with each other are balanced by reminders that hope, beauty and love remain.”
Anthony Stevens, “Every Morning there is the journey to my heart”, detail, Photo: Birgitta Huse
Jessie Anne Fraser, “Mist”, Photo: Birgitta Huse.
Jessie Anne Fraser’s weaving fragments of past and present fit into my theme of textile monographies. “Fraser examines the interconnections of archival photographs, literature and textiles and the use of woven cloth in a site-sensitive installation.” says the Canadian Craft Alliance Atlantic Association’s exhibition catalogue. The Association represents at Collect for the first time. As a social anthropologist my interest was also caught by the sweetgrass and black ash basketry weaving of Indigenous Mi’kmaq and Wampanoag artist Nancy E. Oakley and the masks carved and finished with horsehair by Mi’kmaw Gordon Sparks.
Talia Ramkilawan, “Pretty Girls”, 2024, Wool and cloth on hessian. Rug-hooking done with a punch needle. Photo: Birgitta Huse
Celebrating its twentieth year in 2024 the fair is a regular in London’s craft, design, and art event calendar. In addition to pieces of newly presented makers new pieces by known creatives are on show. Galerie Revel, based in France, is back after the gallery’s premiere at Collect last year with Talia Ramkilawan. The artist uses “wool in a soft yet radical way, creating snapshots taken from her own intimacy and that of other queer, Indian, and female individuals… Naked selfies, G-strings, tattoos, and love quotes are all part of her work…”. Information “written” with wool and cloth on hessian by using a punch needle is a returning feature in the works of South African based Ramkilawan who is of Indian origin.
Julia Hall, “STEVE - A Life worth Saving (Germany, arr. 1939)”, oil and embroidery on linen canvas. Photo: Birgitta Huse.
Julia Hall, presented by Alveston Fine Arts Ltd, writes on her paintings by stitching. It is not her own messages which we find in her stitched texts. The fragments told are excerpts of memories and stories which female protagonists shared with Hall. All protagonists migrated from their country of origin to England, but it is not the reasons for these migrations that the artist is interested in. Dame Stephanie Shirley, for example, arrived at Liverpool Street Station on a kindertransport train from Vienna on 6 July 1939 aged five and stateless. Later, “Hitler allowed the children’s belongings to be sent on, and her mother had bought clothes for her to grow into […]” writes artist Hall. Growing up and overcoming many obstacles in her life Dame Shirley started a software business “Steve” from her dining table in 1962 which grew into a company ultimately valued at almost 3 billion dollars. Dame Stephanie decided to give away her wealth to charity in order to “share the rewards of her success with a society that had extended such generosity to her as a child”. Julia Hall’s painting shows a sweater from Dame Shirley which contains special memories of its owner. Remarkable is the signature at the bottom of each of Hall’s paintings with embroidery – it is the protagonist’s name and not the one of the artist.
Margo Selby, “Moon Landing”. Photo: Birgitta Huse
Margo Selby, “Moon Landing”. Photo: Birgitta Huse
A special Collect highlight is the result of a collaboration of composer Helen Caddick and textile artist Margo Selby: the site-specific installation titled Moon Landing. The 16 m long weaving is situated within the Stamp Stairwell at Somerset House and is perceived as an element which connects several floor levels. The view onto the textile work changes with every step on the staircase, the front and the back are visible, to look down from above is as insightful as looking towards the top from downstairs. The changing light conditions depending on weather and daytime are offering a playful accessibility to colours and texture.
Apart from connecting five floors, the woven piece of art represents a connection between music, science, weaving and textile art. Caddick’s new composition Moon Landing is inspired by First Nations women’s weaving techniques which were crucial for the success of the first mission to the moon in 1969. Weaving is based on technical knowledge. Mechanical looms produce repetitive sounds, a kind of music which accompanies the weaving process. Textile artist Selby translated Caddick’s composition into a textile which makes sounds visible via colours and geometric forms. The live premier of the string music composition in combination with the woven textile on the first Collect preview evening was performed by six female musicians and composer Helen Caddick. It certainly was a once in a lifetime experience for me trying to read what I heard on the 16 m long textile from top to bottom. Also, the installation and the performance triggered memories of the moment I witnessed the TV news about the first landing on the moon in 1969 as a child.
Altogether these creative text(-ile) works exhibited at the craft and design fair reflect on themes of up-to-date interest using writing as a base. Connections between different forms of knowledge like mathematics, music and weaving are studied, personal ideas and memories, thoughts about our world and migration and queer experiences are written down with yarns and fabrics and shared with others in the form of readable texts. Site-sensitivity is applied and a length of 16 meters goes beyond the scope of size dimensions which are usually associated with craft pieces.
Collect is on show at Somerset House until 3rd March 2024.