Decorating Dissidence’s Jade French and Suzanna Petot talk textiles and The Women’s Art Collection
with curator Naomi Polonsky…

Decorating Dissidence’s Jade French and Suzanna Petot talk textiles and The Women’s Art Collection
with curator Naomi Polonsky…
A blazer and a skirt flutter in the wind at Pett Level beach in Hastings. On it are pictures of a man and a woman, across time, sown into the fabric and glazed with glue. Words travel through the garment in embroidery and the pink tulle skirt reads: my own darling (image right). As an image, it presents a ghostly figure, embodied by the movement in the wind and the stories woven into the textile.
… Stitching over history, memory and collective joy – Stephanie Francis-Shanahan’s living sculpturesÝrúrarí’s mostly knit-based practice see fragments of humour, body movements and the everyday meet in wool based, wearable objects.
… Monster Sweaters: in conversation with ÝrúraríArtist and art historian Kathryn Cutler-MacKenzie in conversation with artist Ben Caro.
… Ben Caro on performative masculinity, activating objects, and historyFinding out more about New’s series Aliens of Manila (2014-), a multi-disciplinary work that explores the experience of immigration and cultural displacement through costume, performance and installation.
… Dressing the Aliens of Manila: Elisabetta Garletti in Conversation with Leeroy NewNwando Ebizie is an artist, composer, writer, DJ, curator, dancer, ritual creator, Afrofuturist and musician. Working across media and genres, Ebizie’s artforms explore the neuroscience of perception, mythopoesis, alternate possibilities and sensations using experimental performance, ritual and sound.
… Staging an Afterglow: Interview with Nwando EbizieDrawing on personal experience and folkloric myths, Anna Perach uses a traditional craft technique called tufting to create wearable sculptures that come to life during performances in front of a live audience.
… A Creative Conversation: Stéphanie Ruth & Anna PerachLeila Vilarrubi asks Christie Brown how lockdown has impacted the process of sculpting…
… Ceramics in Lockdown: An interview with Christie BrownStitches in Time began as an experiment to see if sewing could start conversations between strangers – Lottie Whalen interviewed the team to find out more…
… Sewing Social Histories with Stitches in TimeNorth London based artist and activist Rachelle Romeo’s work caught our eye with her powerful and poetic use of embroidery.
Through the Lancaster Dinner Service, Himid interrogates the city’s involvement in the slave trade, forcing the viewer to confront the dark histories of the British Empire and the ongoing legacies of this violence and oppression.
… An interview with Lubaina HimidHadiya Williams is an art director based in Washington, DC and founder of Black Pepper Paperie Co, which sells globally-inspired, one-of-a-kind handcrafted pieces.
… Interview: Surface designing with Hadiya WilliamsLJ Roberts (b.1980) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and is known for large-scale textile installations, intricate embroideries, artist books, collages and sculpture. Their work investigates the overlaps of queer and trans politics, alternative kinships, narrative, and material deviance. Daniel Fountain speaks to LJ here about the relationships between craft, identity and queer theory, and how this manifests itself in their practice.
… LJ Roberts’ Queer EpicsHull-based artist Ella Dorton’s fabric portraits creatively capture the unique spirit of the city’s residents, giving a voice to those who have been left behind by society…
… Interview: Ella Dorton on Craft, Community, and Culture