| Sabi Westoby |
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Connected Threads
I was delighted to have a solo exhibition at Willesden Gallery 21 November - 16 December 2023 showing a selection of my textile wall hangings which included:
Concrete Brutalism – inspired by the architecture of London’s Southbank Centre, the colours, textures and stark forms of concrete brutalism were interpreted in fabric, each piece a dystopian scene.
Poppies – the life cycle of the poppy, from bud to bloom to seed head, in paint, appliqué and stitch.
Georgics – themes of agriculture and beekeeping in John Dryden’s 17th century translation of the Roman poet Virgil’s Georgics, were explored in paint, stencils and text; hand or machine stitch completed the work.
Uprooted – a response to the refugee crisis as shown in The Guardian’s 2018 List of reported refugee deaths over a 25 year period. Commercially printed pages on fabric with hand-stencilled figures were outlined with hand stitch.
These gallery views of the exhibition show the beautiful venue:
Concrete Brutalism – inspired by the architecture of London’s Southbank Centre, the colours, textures and stark forms of concrete brutalism were interpreted in fabric, each piece a dystopian scene.
Poppies – the life cycle of the poppy, from bud to bloom to seed head, in paint, appliqué and stitch.
Georgics – themes of agriculture and beekeeping in John Dryden’s 17th century translation of the Roman poet Virgil’s Georgics, were explored in paint, stencils and text; hand or machine stitch completed the work.
Uprooted – a response to the refugee crisis as shown in The Guardian’s 2018 List of reported refugee deaths over a 25 year period. Commercially printed pages on fabric with hand-stencilled figures were outlined with hand stitch.
These gallery views of the exhibition show the beautiful venue:
And these images show a selection of some of the exhibited works:
Forced to Flee
The last public showing of Forced to Flee was at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK. It has travelled around the United States of America over the last three years and if it had not been for the COVID pandemic it may well have travelled to other continents. I was so glad to have seen the exhibition in real life - no matter how good are video presentations, nothing can compare to the experience of seeing the textures, colours, text and stitches of textile art up close.
These are the venues in which Forced to Flee was exhibited, culminating with Festival of Quilts
Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts - Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, Florida: May 25 - August 24, 2019
Daura Gallery - University of Lynchburg, Lynchburg, Virginia: August 12, 2020 - November 20, 2020
Mills Station Arts & Culture Center - Rancho Cordova, California: January 1 - 31, 2021
Pauly Friedman Art Gallery - Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania: March 25 - June 6, 2021The Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County - Moorhead, Minnesota: July 3 - November 7, 2021
Bedford Gallery @ the Lesher Center for the Arts - Walnut Creek, California: February 26 - June 19, 2022
Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, United Kingdom: August 18, 2022 - August 21, 2022
A video of the show was made, which you can see with this link: www.youtube.com/Forced to Flee
These are the venues in which Forced to Flee was exhibited, culminating with Festival of Quilts
Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts - Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, Florida: May 25 - August 24, 2019
Daura Gallery - University of Lynchburg, Lynchburg, Virginia: August 12, 2020 - November 20, 2020
Mills Station Arts & Culture Center - Rancho Cordova, California: January 1 - 31, 2021
Pauly Friedman Art Gallery - Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania: March 25 - June 6, 2021The Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County - Moorhead, Minnesota: July 3 - November 7, 2021
Bedford Gallery @ the Lesher Center for the Arts - Walnut Creek, California: February 26 - June 19, 2022
Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, United Kingdom: August 18, 2022 - August 21, 2022
A video of the show was made, which you can see with this link: www.youtube.com/Forced to Flee
Ils sont restés dans l'oubli : September 2021
On a recent trip to France we were made aware of an initiative running in Calais during September 2021 - volunteers were engraving wooden plaques with the names of 300 refugees who had died in the Channel while trying to reach England. We were compelled to take part and made small contributions to the initiative by engraving three plaques, one of which only had a date to mark the death of a refugee. All the plaques will be installed as a permanent memorial in Calais.
You can read more about the project with these links to France3 in French and English
https://bit.ly/3AnuMZ3
https://bit.ly/3oE9ZhD
You can read more about the project with these links to France3 in French and English
https://bit.ly/3AnuMZ3
https://bit.ly/3oE9ZhD
Structures : SAQA Virtual Exhibition : 1 July - 31 August 2021
The call for entry to SAQA's current virtual exhibition, Structures, was capable of a very wide interpretation as this excerpt shows:
'A structure can be defined as the framework or the internal arrangement of elements that form something else, whether man-made, like a building or machine, or natural like cells, bones, minerals, or chemicals. There are social structures that represent a pattern of relationships, from families to neighbourhoods. Abstract structures form the construct of music and computer science. When used as a verb, to structure is to plan, organize or arrange the parts of something.'
Immediately I thought of my Southbank Journal Quilts for 2015 - they fitted the theme perfectly.
And I was delighted when the piece was accepted for the Virtual Exhibition. You can see all the beautiful works and artist statements with this link:
www.saqa.com/art/online-galleries/structures-saqa-virtual-gallery
'A structure can be defined as the framework or the internal arrangement of elements that form something else, whether man-made, like a building or machine, or natural like cells, bones, minerals, or chemicals. There are social structures that represent a pattern of relationships, from families to neighbourhoods. Abstract structures form the construct of music and computer science. When used as a verb, to structure is to plan, organize or arrange the parts of something.'
Immediately I thought of my Southbank Journal Quilts for 2015 - they fitted the theme perfectly.
And I was delighted when the piece was accepted for the Virtual Exhibition. You can see all the beautiful works and artist statements with this link:
www.saqa.com/art/online-galleries/structures-saqa-virtual-gallery
Plurality of Voices : SAQA Virtual Exhibition : 1 May - 30 June 2021
One of the themes I have been exploring is Dryden's translation of Virgil's Georgics. I found the rhyming couplets charming and lively. There are more details under the Works tab above.
I was honoured that my wall hanging, 'Huge Flocks of Rising Rooks', was selected for inclusion in the virtual gallery along with the works of 30 other textile artists.
You can see all the information about the exhibition, including statements by the exhibiting artists explaining the background to their work, with this link
www.saqa.com/art/online-galleries/plurality-voices-saqa-virtual-gallery
Textiles East Fair : February 2020
New Horizons Textile Group, of which I am a member, managed to exhibit at Textiles East Fair in February before Covid-19 prevented such activities from taking place.
We were the only textile exhibiting group and showed two collections of new works - Text FX and Larger Than Life. The criteria for the pieces were that for Text FX one dimension had to be a minimum of 100 cm and for Larger Than life it should be 60 cm square.
I have used text in my collection of works based on The Georgics so rather than reinventing the wheel for the first category, I made another piece depicting olives and using an extract from the poem. Dryden's translation was the inspiration behind my body of work and in this piece I used vintage typeface blocks for the text and stencils for the imagery. Hand stitching completed the quilt.
My second piece, for the Larger Than Life category, was based on an image of mahogany wood magnified 400 times showing the cells carrying nutrients to the tree. The techniques include applique, couching and machine stitching.
We were the only textile exhibiting group and showed two collections of new works - Text FX and Larger Than Life. The criteria for the pieces were that for Text FX one dimension had to be a minimum of 100 cm and for Larger Than life it should be 60 cm square.
I have used text in my collection of works based on The Georgics so rather than reinventing the wheel for the first category, I made another piece depicting olives and using an extract from the poem. Dryden's translation was the inspiration behind my body of work and in this piece I used vintage typeface blocks for the text and stencils for the imagery. Hand stitching completed the quilt.
My second piece, for the Larger Than Life category, was based on an image of mahogany wood magnified 400 times showing the cells carrying nutrients to the tree. The techniques include applique, couching and machine stitching.
Capital Contrasts : Knitting and Stitching Shows : 2019
For some time contemporary quilters in London had bemoaned the fact that there was no textile group in London specifically for their interests. So a group was created - members of London Quilters who also belonged to the Contemporary Quilt Group of The Quilters' Guild decided that we should meet once a month in Camden to talk about our projects, inspire each other, trouble shoot and run in-house workshops. Thus Contemporary Quilt London came into existence in 2017.
It was always our intention to be an exhibiting group and our public debut was made at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in October 2019. There were two themes to the exhibition - London and Notan. The London pieces could be interpreted as freely as the maker wished, the only constraint being the size - 40" x 18" portrait format. The images below show the collection of London quilts and clicking on each one will expand it.
It was always our intention to be an exhibiting group and our public debut was made at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in October 2019. There were two themes to the exhibition - London and Notan. The London pieces could be interpreted as freely as the maker wished, the only constraint being the size - 40" x 18" portrait format. The images below show the collection of London quilts and clicking on each one will expand it.
The second theme was Notan, the Japanese concept of balance and harmony using light and dark. Here the quilts were sized 20" x 20" using just black and white fabrics with the design decisions left entirely to the maker
After Alexandra Palace, the exhibition was seen in Dublin and Harrogate Convention Centre. I am delighted to be a member of CQL and proud to have taken part in our inaugural public showing the wide range of ideas and techniques which makes it such an interesting group.
Sadly, however, I must put in a note about our member Jackie Ketley who died of cancer in August 2019. She was determined to take part in our exhibition so both of her works were included and travelled with the other artworks.
Sadly, however, I must put in a note about our member Jackie Ketley who died of cancer in August 2019. She was determined to take part in our exhibition so both of her works were included and travelled with the other artworks.
Spotlight@40 : 2019
In 2018 I was invited by Region 1 of the Quilters’ Guild to make a quilt for Spotlight@40, part of its 40th anniversary celebrations in 2019. I was honoured to have been asked and delighted to accept.
I had many ideas before fixing on the design for my contribution - I thought about printing ‘40’ in various shades of red to mark the ruby anniversary; I considered creating several traditional blocks and overlaying them with ‘40’ using either paint or sheer fabrics; I toyed with the idea of using the word ‘forty’ in various languages but how many should I incorporate in my quilt? After all, not every country has a heritage of quilting.
It was while researching languages into which ‘forty’ could be translated that I decided to use text. And rather than focusing on the number it would be interesting to see what other significant cultural, political and historical events occurred forty years ago - thus the idea for my quilt was born. Of course, in the quilting world the formation of the Quilters’ Guild would have been the highlight of 1979.
My concept was to have the words ‘Formation of the Quilters’ Guild’ centre stage in a large red font, referencing the ruby anniversary, surrounded by the other events in smaller and varied fonts using shades of black and grey, like newspaper headlines. Investigating events for inclusion was a lot of fun and I chose subjects that resonate with me - I make no apologies for ignoring sport and religion.
I have used Photoshop as a design tool for many years so typing in and manipulating selected headlines around the virtual quilt was easy; different fonts, sizes and opacities were auditioned; the layout developed from blocks to lines of text. I saved each change in the design to enable easy reference back. From time to time I printed onto paper to proofread and check the layout. These examples give some idea of the development of the quilt:
I had many ideas before fixing on the design for my contribution - I thought about printing ‘40’ in various shades of red to mark the ruby anniversary; I considered creating several traditional blocks and overlaying them with ‘40’ using either paint or sheer fabrics; I toyed with the idea of using the word ‘forty’ in various languages but how many should I incorporate in my quilt? After all, not every country has a heritage of quilting.
It was while researching languages into which ‘forty’ could be translated that I decided to use text. And rather than focusing on the number it would be interesting to see what other significant cultural, political and historical events occurred forty years ago - thus the idea for my quilt was born. Of course, in the quilting world the formation of the Quilters’ Guild would have been the highlight of 1979.
My concept was to have the words ‘Formation of the Quilters’ Guild’ centre stage in a large red font, referencing the ruby anniversary, surrounded by the other events in smaller and varied fonts using shades of black and grey, like newspaper headlines. Investigating events for inclusion was a lot of fun and I chose subjects that resonate with me - I make no apologies for ignoring sport and religion.
I have used Photoshop as a design tool for many years so typing in and manipulating selected headlines around the virtual quilt was easy; different fonts, sizes and opacities were auditioned; the layout developed from blocks to lines of text. I saved each change in the design to enable easy reference back. From time to time I printed onto paper to proofread and check the layout. These examples give some idea of the development of the quilt:
From the outset, my design was for a single headline in red for ‘Formation of the Quilters’ Guild’ and black and greys for the others. However, this was to change - accidentally and dramatically. I did a test print on paper, as before, but now the printer had run out of cyan so the end result was that the entire image was printed in varying shades of red. This was just great! Much more interesting, lively and in keeping with the ruby theme.
The design was digitally printed onto cotton sateen and machine quilted with horizontal lines of stitching between each line of text. However, I felt that this looked rather dull so another print was ordered. Using a light cream thread, I hand stitched all over the quilt with seed stitch and was much happier with this version - an organic stitch creating texture and contrasting with formal lines of text.
The finished quilt, “Headline News”, together with close-up images where you can, hopefully. see the rather subtle stitching.
The finished quilt, “Headline News”, together with close-up images where you can, hopefully. see the rather subtle stitching.
The digital printing was done by www.fashion-formula.com
Forced to Flee
20 June 2018 was World Refugee Day and with my copy of The Guardian came a 60 page supplement, now known as The List, marking 25 years of the European refugee crisis. It was compiled by United for Intercultural Action, a network of anti-racist organisations,
The first recorded death was in 1993 - the suicide of Kimpua Nsimba, a 24 year old refugee from Zaire, in a UK detention centre; the last recorded death was on 6 May 2018. The List has details of 34,361 known deaths of refugees and migrants trying to make new lives in Europe. The details include names, ages, gender, places of origin and causes of death - drowning, suicide, murder - but there is a distressingly high number of mass drownings where few other details were recorded.
I knew that I needed to make an artwork responding to The List, especially as permission was freely given to use the data, providing the source, www.unitedagainstracism.org was acknowledged.
The catalyst was the call for entry by SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) for the next Global Exhibition 'Forced to Flee' in May 2019. You can see how I made my artwork by clicking on the Works tab above.
I was delighted that my piece, 'Page 27 - Exodus 1', was selected for inclusion in the exhibition. My gratitude goes to United Against Racism for their generosity in allowing The List to be used by artists.
This link will take you to a virtual tour of the opening exhibition at the Ruth Funk Centre for Textile Arts and interviews with some of the artists, curator and juror - vimeopro.com/saqa/forced-to-flee
The first recorded death was in 1993 - the suicide of Kimpua Nsimba, a 24 year old refugee from Zaire, in a UK detention centre; the last recorded death was on 6 May 2018. The List has details of 34,361 known deaths of refugees and migrants trying to make new lives in Europe. The details include names, ages, gender, places of origin and causes of death - drowning, suicide, murder - but there is a distressingly high number of mass drownings where few other details were recorded.
I knew that I needed to make an artwork responding to The List, especially as permission was freely given to use the data, providing the source, www.unitedagainstracism.org was acknowledged.
The catalyst was the call for entry by SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) for the next Global Exhibition 'Forced to Flee' in May 2019. You can see how I made my artwork by clicking on the Works tab above.
I was delighted that my piece, 'Page 27 - Exodus 1', was selected for inclusion in the exhibition. My gratitude goes to United Against Racism for their generosity in allowing The List to be used by artists.
This link will take you to a virtual tour of the opening exhibition at the Ruth Funk Centre for Textile Arts and interviews with some of the artists, curator and juror - vimeopro.com/saqa/forced-to-flee
Swingfield Centenary Quilt
In 2018, the Centenary of the end of World War 1, thousands of commemorative events were organised across the country and the village of Swingfield in Kent was no exception. My friends, Steve and Barbara, played an important part in fund-raising, planning and, eventually setting up the events leading up to Armistice Day.
Nine men from the village, including two pairs of brothers, had died in the Great War and their names were eventually carved on the lychgate of St. Peter's Church. One of the planned memorials was to have life size acrylic silhouettes of the men seated on pews in the church - still present though absent.
I felt compelled to make a contribution to remembering the deceased and the choice and size were left entirely to me. It didn't take me long to work out a design that was simple but striking. The names of the men were stencilled onto fabric using a military style font and images of poppies, from my photograph, were printed onto fabric and fused down. The whole piece was then machine quilted.
Nine men from the village, including two pairs of brothers, had died in the Great War and their names were eventually carved on the lychgate of St. Peter's Church. One of the planned memorials was to have life size acrylic silhouettes of the men seated on pews in the church - still present though absent.
I felt compelled to make a contribution to remembering the deceased and the choice and size were left entirely to me. It didn't take me long to work out a design that was simple but striking. The names of the men were stencilled onto fabric using a military style font and images of poppies, from my photograph, were printed onto fabric and fused down. The whole piece was then machine quilted.
This picture shows the quilt hanging in situ, in St. Peter's Church. I particularly like the rather ghostly acrylic silhouette of the soldier.
Having made many quilts on the theme of the poppy, this will probably be the last one, perhaps fittingly, given that the centenary has just passed.
Exhibitions 2018
So far 2018 has been a busy and exciting year - two groups to which I belong have shown work at two separate venues. And it was an opportunity for me to explore in some detail my subject for my exhibition pieces based on Dryden's translation of Virgil's Georgics.
The first in time was 'Contrasts' with All Threaded Together at the Yarrow Gallery, Oundle, Northamptonshire, 3 - 16 March. The group consists of former students of Brenda Boardman who meet once a month to exchange ideas and encourage each other. Most importantly, it is an exhibiting group - pictures and details of the exhibition are accessible with this link: www.allthreadedtogether.com/exhibition-2018.
The second exhibition, 'Into the Fray', was with New Horizons Textile Group at Cowslip Workshops, Launceston, Cornwall 27 March - 8 April. The exhibiting group is a long running one, formed in 1993, and which I joined in 2016. You can see pictures of the exhibition here: www.newhorizonstextilegroup.com/into-the-fray.htmlwww.newhorizonstextilegroup.com/into-the-fray.
The third show is 'Connections', also with New Horizons, was at the Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, 9 - 12 August. This is the largest quilting and patchwork show in Europe with about 30,000 visitors over four days.
So Virgil got a lot of exposure!
The first in time was 'Contrasts' with All Threaded Together at the Yarrow Gallery, Oundle, Northamptonshire, 3 - 16 March. The group consists of former students of Brenda Boardman who meet once a month to exchange ideas and encourage each other. Most importantly, it is an exhibiting group - pictures and details of the exhibition are accessible with this link: www.allthreadedtogether.com/exhibition-2018.
The second exhibition, 'Into the Fray', was with New Horizons Textile Group at Cowslip Workshops, Launceston, Cornwall 27 March - 8 April. The exhibiting group is a long running one, formed in 1993, and which I joined in 2016. You can see pictures of the exhibition here: www.newhorizonstextilegroup.com/into-the-fray.htmlwww.newhorizonstextilegroup.com/into-the-fray.
The third show is 'Connections', also with New Horizons, was at the Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, 9 - 12 August. This is the largest quilting and patchwork show in Europe with about 30,000 visitors over four days.
So Virgil got a lot of exposure!
Patchwork Professional Magazine : January 2018
Dorothee Crane, the editor of Patchwork Professional, a German quilting and textile art magazine, approached me last year with a view to doing a feature about my work. I was delighted to work with her, all by email and telephone, and the magazine was published in January 2018.
With her kind permission, the article is shown below, in German.
SAQA "Made in Europe"
I was delighted that my piece, Southbank 13, was selected to be shown in venues in the USA in 2017. And it has now been chosen to travel to three venues in Europe this year.
You can read about the process of making the piece by clicking on this link - Works
You can access archives of earlier entries in this section by clicking on the News tab above
You can read about the process of making the piece by clicking on this link - Works
You can access archives of earlier entries in this section by clicking on the News tab above