Fiona experiments with colour in her latest works!
by admin
As a part of the series showcasing the works of Artists working on the TC2 loom, we present the latest creations by Fiona J Sperryn. Fiona’s inspiration comes from the environment, a love of drawing and particularly of weave structure. The combination of digital innovation with traditional craft skills is important and she enjoys the physical interactions of the creative process, from textural mark-making outdoors to hand finishing the woven cloth in her rural studio in Cornwall.
Works…
Fiona writes: During the first lockdown of 2020, I was working intently on a commission to translate a painter’s work into weave. It was a challenge to reproduce the range of colours required and I decided to develop the technical knowledge gained during this period in my own practice over the following months. I have taken this time to advance my work along bold new lines and experiment intuitively with colour, stepping sideways from representational work to concentrate on abstract patterned pieces.
Studies in Colour: Ten
These three pieces (below) will be exhibited from May to July in the UK with the Design-Nation’s Cornwall and Devon Cluster artists.
This hand-woven sampler was developed over several months to study the weave structures which are unintentionally created on the reverse of a cloth. I wanted to be able to control the beautiful colour blends that had happened on the back of previous pieces. Working intuitively with colour, I wound multiple strands of mixed fibres from the studio supplies onto bobbins. The ten colours varied as the piece grew on the black and white cotton warp. I wove face and reverse of my structures, which were loosely based on satin/sateen variations.
Warp sett 60epi, weft 200ppi, 110cm wide x 130cm long approx. Cotton, linen, silk, polyester, rayon, lurex.
Shallows: Surface
The thing I miss most now is not being able to travel. I wanted to weave my vision of standing in the shallows of a sandy beach with the sun glinting off the surface of the water. This piece was developed from the Studies in Colour piece. It proved a wonderful thick cloth with plenty of joyful uplifting colour. I wove with nine shuttles of mixed fibres on the same end’n’end warp as the Studies.
110cm wide x 84cm long approx.
Shallows: Depth
I used another original photograph as my starting point for this hanging, in which I explored the creation of visual depth by blending colour. I worked with sixty strands of various fibres to give nine colours on the bobbins and the structures blend two or more colours with the black or the white of the warp. The lightest lines are created by warp floats.
109cm wide x 73cm long approx.
About…
It was during a Masters at the Royal College of Art that Fiona J Sperryn discovered the tool which allowed her to combine her love of drawing and weave. Now, as the proud owner of a TC2 and unusually for an artist in the UK, she is using the jacquard loom for creative expression producing one-off artworks. She is also offering a commission weaving service and individual tuition with the TC2 loom. Fiona has lectured in Textile Design at Falmouth University for a number of years and has exhibited in London, Cornwall and Berlin.
Links…
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