All Categories - Sabi Westoby

Knitting & Stitching Show 2015

7/10/2015

The annual show at Alexandra Palace is one not to be missed for stitching and knitting afficionados. I went on Wednesday 7 October, the first day of the show opening, queueing up to get in as the doors opened. The greatest pleasure of the show is being able to speak with the artists exhibiting their work - and I was not disappointed.

Amanda Clayton and Viven Prideaux's installation of beautifully dyed pieces and sheers was made in response to the poem by RS Thomas "The Other". The translucent hangings and stitched books were particularly attractive.

Stella Harding's exhibition of forms used basketry techniques to transform discarded and recycled materials into geometric forms displayed to show their shapes, which were highlighted by their own shadows.

Michala Gyetvai's "Enchanted Landscapes", large pieces on felted and stitched blankets invoked the atmosphere of mysterious and magical places, the stuff of fairy tales. Although not permitted, these pieces were crying out to be stroked...

The SAQA exhibition, "Food for Thought", examines the role of food in daily life. And Kate Jenkin's wonderful "The Stitchmongers", with its display of knitted, crocheted and sequined seafood made every visitor smile with pleasure.

New Zealand Contemporary Textile Art was a large showcase of artwork with a range of techniques, themes and sizes, reflecting the diverse cultures of New Zealand.

"The Fiber Lands" by DAMSS Fibreart greets the visitor on entering the show - the large display stretches for several yards and is composed of individual panels to make up the whole. Based on the cliffs of Ligura, the visitor has a rather vertiginous bird's eye view of the coastline and sea. You are left with the feeling that you are there.

Summer Exhibition - Royal Academy

31/7/2015

After a two year absence, I managed to see this year's Summer Exhibition with a fortnight to spare. The first thing that struck me was the large number of people taking photographs. I officiously told someone it wasn't allowed but an attendant corrected me - this was the first time that the Royal Academy had allowed photography. So my mobile was pressed into use and I was able to capture images of some of the works which caught my attention. Resolution for next year - take good camera with full battery!

The Small Weston Room was handed over to William Kentridge in recognition of his election as an Honarary Academician and the space was used to show his recent works on trees of Africa - linocuts, Indian ink and digital prints on dictionary pages. The ink marks were particularly well suited to the subject matter.

An unexpected surprise was a display from Tom Phillips' The Humument, showing the development of individual pages. And a large display of 40 prints by Norman Ackroyd was stunning.

Apart from a large Grayson Perry tapestry and a small embroidery of a parrot, I didn't see other textile works. Perhaps textile artists should make a concerted effort to flood the selection committee with works on textiles so that we would be hard to ignore..........

Somerset House - 2

13/7/2015

I have never understood the point of battle re-nactments but the exhibition "Unseen Waterloo - The Conflict Revisited" opened my eyes.

The exhibition consists of 70 life size portraits taken by the photographer Sam Faulkner, who has attended the annual Waterloo re-enactment in Belgium since 2009. Each participant makes their own historically accurate uniform. The photographs were taken in a pop-up studio on the battlefield against a black background; the dramatic lighting evoked forgotten faces and emotions.

To quote Sam Faulkner - "Unseen Waterloo: The Conflict Revisited" is my attempt to re-interpret and imagine the non-existent portraits from 1815. ...we don't have personal images of the men who actually fought and died that day. ...This work attempts to reclaim the Battle of Waterloo for the valiant 200,000 who have been lost to history".

The exhibition runs until 31 August and is well worth a visit. To whet your interest are three pictures from the exhibition:

Somerset House - 1

13/7/2015

The exhibition at Somerset House, "Beneath the Surface", fittingly displayed in the subterranean Embankment Galleries, is a selection of pieces from the V&A's extensive collection of photographs. The exhibition shows prints rarely or never before exhibited, by both both nineteenth century pioneers and contemporary artists.

Poppies Sown in Thread - Part 4

7/5/2015

The private view of my show on 26 April was really well attended with over 60 visitors, and I don't think the samosas and wine were the only draw! It was great to see so many familiar faces and many new ones. Here are some photographs of the afternoon:

Poppies Sown in Thread - Part 3

7/5/2015

As my show reaches its last two days I thought it was time to post pictures of the works on display. Click on an image to see a larger picture and title of the work.

Poppies Sown in Thread - Part 2

11/4/2015

I made a lot of samples when developing the work for this exhibition. At first I thought I could get away without doing so but days of painstakingly unpicking heavy machine quilting convinced me otherwise....

For a couple of the samples I replicated the techniques on scrap fabrics, made quilt sandwiches and then auditioned stitches and threads. For other samples I did something which might be considered extravagant - I took a photograph of a work in progress and printed it out on ready printable fabric. This was a direct way of testing stitches and thread with the added benefit of creating a good collection of samples, all of which are now in my sketchbook, a permanent reminder of the works.

Some of the samples are shown below; click on each image to see a larger picture.

Poppies Sown in Thread - Part 1

10/4/2015

My third solo show opens on 22 April at Artisan Gallery. The work was inspired by a single poppy image and is a development of the research carried out for the World War 1 quilts. Those four quilts will be displayed, so that the visitor can see the progression, but it is not a Great War show.

When planning a new body of work, I have to have a new sketchbook. I chose an A3 book in landscape format from L. Cornelissen, one of my favourite art shops. The clean blank pages can be a deterrent to mark making so I gave them colour washes, not always being neat and tidy, letting the paint drip, run and smudge. The edges were also painted, dripping into the pages and sometimes sticking them together! But that gave extra texture and marks - lovely.

I put everything in the sketchbook - ideas, quotations, pictures for inspiration, stitched samples, notes to myself for further development, stencils, discarded backing papers, scraps of fabric. Some ideas became finished pieces, others were binned.

I restricted myself to using only materials that I had in my studio and, consequently, nothing new was bought to create the hangings. And as the theme of the show was to be the life cycle of the poppy, I felt that recycling was more than appropriate. So, an old duvet cover, washing rags, old hand dyed fabrics and a Freemason's robe rescued from a skip form the basis for a lot of the work.

Here are some of the pages from my sketchbook to give an idea of the development behind the work - the completed pieces will be posted when the show has ended.

London Quilters - Coming Home

19/11/2014

The biennial exhibition of work by members of London Quilters shows the diversity of the group, from traditional pieces worked by hand over paper to art wall hangings. Here is a selection of some of the quilts. All the exhibits can be seen with this link - www.londonquilters.org.uk/coming-home-2014

As well as the exhibited quilts, members made items for sale, ideal for unique, handmade Christmas presents. These included quilts, cushions, books with textile covers, my textile bowls, table mats and decorations.

And a couple of pictures to show part of the gallery space:

The Art of the Brick

30/10/2014

Using 'everyday' Lego bricks, the sort that could be in the toybox or attic, the artist, Nathan Sawaya, has created artworks that are imaginative and fun. Some pieces are interpretations of classical pieces (David, Venus de Milo, The Thinker) and others are his own creations, witty and thought-provoking. The show is well curated with each piece individually lit and the shadows cast are as interesting as the works themselves, adding another dimension to the display.

Photography was allowed, much to my surprise and delight. Here are a few I was able to take before the battery packed up. Memo to self - check that your camera battery is charged before going out to take pictures!!