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Cas Holmes & Anne Kelly: Connected Cloth – Bridges
28th May 2014 to 20th June 2014
‘Connected Cloth – Bridges’ is an exhibition marking the publication of ‘Connected Cloth’ by Cas Holmes and Anne Kelly. The work in this exhibition contains a selection of individual works as well as collaborative projects as ‘Resonant Textiles’. A new joint work ‘Bridges’ included in the exhibition, reflects their regular journey on the Medway Valley line.
RESONANT TEXTILES
resonanttextiles.blogspot.co.uk
We started the collaboration after a chance encounter at West Dean College. We have been working together as ‘Resonant Textiles’ for the past six years, exhibiting together and meeting roughly once a month to share materials, ideas and our experiences. The book ‘Connected Cloth’ developed out of our desire to share this with a wider public and to record and reflect our work as teachers and tutors. We are currently exhibiting collaborative pieces in a touring exhibition with which includes community workshops. We are currently invistigating ‘next steps’ as part of the collaboration with a view to producing a new body of work which will be available from late 2015 onwards.
ANNE KELLY
annekellytextiles.com
Anne trained as a fine artist in Canada and at Goldsmiths College, London. She collects recycled fabric, paper and ephemera using collage, stitch, photographic and print processes to create a range of work, most of which is framed. Her inspirations are travel, memory and vintage imagery from a variety of sources. These have been described as ‘small worlds’ and her current layered mixed media work started life as mainly botanical in subject matter before developing into larger more narrative works. Often it can be a small scrap or remnant of fabric that inspires a whole piece and she is inspired by naïve and folk art. She also produces commissions for private and public individuals – examples of these ‘collages in cloth’, based on special places, people and spaces can be found on her website. She has a long history of teaching and tutors a range of levels of ability and is a guest artist at Jersey Textile Showcase in 2014. She is also artist in residence at the RHS-partnered Sussex Prairies Garden in West Sussex in 2014. Her community collaborative piece ‘Sparrow Stories’ is touring RSPB centres in London and Kent. She is the co-author of ‘Connected Cloth’, with Cas Holmes and writes articles for various online journals and blogs.
CAS HOLMES
casholmestextiles.co.uk
Cas Holmes is interested in the issues relating to the environment and to the land. Trained in fine art she works in mixed media using found materials, textiles and paper. At first glance, the materials and techniques give the impression of something we ‘already know’, yet the artist is able to conjure up familiar images and associations and give them new meanings. She is influenced by the ideals of wabi-sabi, things often overlooked, details, worn surfaces and the beauty found in the transience of things imperfect. With a background in community arts, collaborative projects, commissions and installations are an important part of her practice and works in museums and public venues in the UK and abroad. She is a senior tutor at West Dean College and teaches at Adult Education.Her work processes are reflected in her book ‘The Found Object in Textile Art’, (reprinted 3 times). Her second book, ‘Connected Cloth,’ co- written with Anne Kelly, looks at aspects of collaboration in textile arts. She is guest artist at the 20th Anniversary of the European Patchwork Meeting, Alsace in 2014 as well as exhibiting in Germany and France.