{"id":999,"date":"2020-09-08T13:56:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T13:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.wordpress.com\/?p=999"},"modified":"2021-07-15T18:25:34","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T18:25:34","slug":"artists-interview-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/2020\/09\/08\/artists-interview-22\/","title":{"rendered":"Artists Interview – Gwen Hedley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Artists can be inspired by many things, nature , surroundings , memories and emotions .  <\/span>Sometimes a place that you experience a close connection to can be the source of continued exploration. In this weeks conversation  <\/span>Gwen talks about walking along the coast shoreline  <\/span>and  <\/span>how it is a multi-sensory experience, with constantly changing sounds, sights and smells.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gwen Hedley<\/strong>
\nI was born and raised by the sea, so the coast is where I feel I most at home. Once again, I live very close to the sea, and can regularly amble along the beach.<\/p>\n

Walking on the shoreline is a multi-sensory experience, with constantly changing sounds, sights and smells.  <\/span>I am an inveterate collector of bits of \u2018stuff\u2019 that have been endlessly battered by tidal movements, some becoming my working materials, as I observe transformations brought about by natural forces. Drawings of marked and scarred surfaces, along with jotted working notes, form the basis for abstract designs<\/p>\n

My work for Insights is a continuation and development of my on-going ideas and working processes. I tend not to have fixed ideas regarding resolved pieces of work, preferring to follow a path that allows for spontaneous diversions and side-tracks that can lead to unanticipated destinations.<\/p>\n

I initially intended to concentrate solely upon the change and transformation of metal surfaces.  <\/span>My first work, \u2018Material Change: Sculpture\u2019<\/b> was concerned with the effects of repetitive immersion of cast iron in the sea, and I had planned to further develop emerging ideas and designs.  <\/span>However……..finding a child\u2019s disintegrated leather shoe had a profound effect upon me, and I felt compelled to take my work in a new direction, that gave rise to \u2018Material Change: Shoe\u2019<\/b>. This side-track led me to do a broad definition search on \u2018flotsam and jetsam\u2019 that gave disturbing results and deeper meaning to my work.   <\/span>The shoe, along with scraps of distressed fabric became an analogy for distressed people; this notion is expanded upon in Insights.<\/p>\n

Hitherto, I have transferred colour and design onto cloth and paper by painting, dyeing or block printing. I had just started learning to use a press for collagraph intaglio printing, so this project was a good opportunity to try new ways of working, by developing observational drawings in an alternative way, and further drawing into them with stitch.  <\/span>Theory is one thing, and practice is another \u2013 it was, and continues to be a steep learning curve.  <\/span>I was not aiming for perfect traditional prints, which was just as well !<\/p>\n

For the work based on cast iron, materials were stained and marked by steeping them with rusting metals, in bowls of sea water for a few days. I then began printing on the different weights of cloth and paper and exploring chine coll\u00e9  techniques.  <\/span>Prints were moved about until a satisfactory composition emerged, providing the basis for further drawing with simple stitch.  <\/span>\u2018Material Change; Shoe\u2019<\/b> was created in a similar way, but without staining.<\/p>\n

I have since embarked upon experimental Cyanotype prints, incorporating scraps of found cloth, and stitch. Trials are at an early stage \u2013 success is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n

During lockdown, we have had glorious sunshine, and having used the salty sea to a to produce colour from rusting metals, I like the idea of harnessing the sun\u2019s rays to activate applied chemicals to produce colour – a sort of sea and sun colouring fest…but we\u2019ll see!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to try new approaches, and I enjoy exploring these printing processes, but am not sure where they will lead.   <\/span>However, I do know that needle and thread will continue to be important elements \u2013 I still need the comforting rhythms and the tactility of hand-stitching to feel at one with the work.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Gwen Hedley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artists can be inspired by many things, nature , surroundings , memories and emotions .  Sometimes a place that you experience a close connection to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1142,"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions\/1142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/textilestudygroup.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}