January 2023 - Arnolds Attic

30th January 202312th June 2023

Summer 2022

For the past few months I’ve been busy designing & stitching a new artwork named ‘Summer 2022’ .

Last year I was honoured to be invited by artist Harry Meadley to take part in Free-For-All at Touchstones Rochdale from 7-10th September 2022.

I created an event called ‘Stitched Memories’ to collect Rochdale’s memories of the 2022 heatwave for a new artwork – a companion piece to Summer ‘76. The responses were handwritten on postcards and displayed within the gallery.

My original idea was to create a single artwork of around 400 words. In reality, after collating so many wonderful hand written phrases a unique story started to evolve – enough for two artworks.

The artworks cover the period from early summer, through the heatwave and drought and end with the loss of HM Queen Elizabeth II (which occurred during the time I was at Free-For-All).

Each piece is 21 x 21cm, hand embroidered and hand stitched with vintage Sylko thread onto cotton cloth.

This is the first time I’ve created an artwork from a ‘Stitched Memories’ event and would definitely like to host another one in the future.

Thank you the curators at Touchstones, Harry Meadley and all the visitors who contributed to Summer 2022.

12th January 202312th January 2023

Collateral at the Crafts Council

In 2021 Brigid McLeer, Super Slow Way and the British Textile Biennial put out a call – ‘Stitchers needed’ to hand embroider a piece of organza for the Collateral project – You can see my stitched block in a previous post.

The assembled artwork – made entirely in white thread – was on exhibition in 2021 at Queen Street Mill in Burnley, and is now part of the ‘Cotton: Labour, Land and Body’ at the Crafts Council Gallery, London from 21 September 2022 – 4 March 2023.

I was thrilled to finally see my stitched contribution on a recent visit to London and took a few photos to share with you.

‘Cotton: Labour, Land and Body’ at the Crafts Council Gallery

“For British Textile Biennial 2021 artist Brigid McLeer creates a memorial to the hundreds of workers who die in factories and sweatshops across the world that supply the global garment industry. Made in collaboration with local embroiderers and inspired by a large scale lace panel from the Gawthorpe Textile Collection commemorating the Battle of Britain, the work will be a moving testament to the lives lost to feed the West’s seemingly bottomless appetite for fast fashion. The new embroidered panel will be 450 x 163 cm and around three of its four sides will be a 10cm wide border with a repeated motif. The motif re-draws the repeated pattern of wheat sheaves depicted on the Battle of Britain lace panel, as a repeated pattern of bodies, wrapped in fabric and laid out on the ground, drawn from a photograph of victims taken after the Kader Industrial factory fire in 1993.”
Collateral Project

Crafts Council, 44a Pentonville Road, London N1 9BY. The Gallery is open Wednesdays to Saturdays, 11am – 5pm. Entry is free.

11th January 202311th January 2023

Gratitude Exhibition

Close up of the stitching - Giant Cauliflower Harvest - embroidered word, red thread about my father and his allotment

I’m pleased to announce that “Giant Cauliflower Harvest ” has been selected for the Gratitude Exhibition at Canco Park, 47 Dey Street, Jersey City, NJ 07306, USA. This is a public arts event where pieces from artists from around the world are printed onto vinyl and hung outside in public spaces.

Cities gain value through public art – cultural, social, and economic value. Public art is a distinguishing part of our public history and our evolving culture. It reflects and reveals our society, adds meaning to our cities and uniqueness to our communities. Public art humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces. It provides an intersection between past, present and future, between disciplines, and between ideas. (The Public Art Network Council explain it best in their Green Paper) ….. Gratitude is something we have learned to appreciate and be more considerate of since the pandemic, it has been amazing to receive such a diverse range of styles and subject matter. Walk Bye has become a platform that the people of Jersey City not only recognize, but crave. People send messages asking when the next show will be coming… To be able to celebrate, discover and enjoy artists and cultures from around the world while you walk in your own city is an incredibly fulfilling thing that encourages you to value the diversity and beauty of your own place.
Catalina Aranguren, Founder & Organizer, Walk_Bye

The exhibition is curated by artist Catalina Aranguren in conjunction with Walk Bye, Canco Park Conservancy & Bergen County Audubon Society.

The artwork will be unveiled on Sat Jan 14th, 2023 12-2pm in conjunction with a local event supporting Wildlife at the park.

This is second large scale Walk Bye exhibition I’ve taken part in.

Month: January 2023

Summer 2022

Collateral at the Crafts Council

Gratitude Exhibition

Get in Touch