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Between
a Rock and a Hard PlacePeople are my passion and my inspiration. Good or bad and, to be honest, preferably bad, they never cease to amuse, amaze, irritate and influence me. Whereas others gain inspiration from the magnificence of the natural world in its infinite variety, I feed on humanity and its incredible capacity for variety. Foolishness, frivolity and the darker aspects of human nature form my palette and I seek to express and exploit this through my work. Having studied both Art and English Literature, it is perhaps not surprising that analytical and narrative themes are woven into it. The theatre and illustrations by political cartoonists from Gilray and Hogarth through to Steadman and Scarfe have strongly influenced my style and technique. In fact I started 'life' as a painter. I loved putting oils on canvas but was more eager to explore the potential of the canvas than the paint. I was lured by the potentials offered both by wearable art and by soft sculptures, seduced by lush velvets and smooth sand-washed silks.
Taking as a starting point the September 1999 issue of The World of Embroidery, I discovered that both cover and content reflected my particular fascination, i.e. the human form as expressed in stitch. I think it is fairly true to say that examples of expressive figurative work appear far less frequently within its pages than do abstract, colour and texturally orientated pieces. Not surprisingly, then, I read each article with great interest. Of particular value to me personally were Freda Brierley's comments in 'A Global Perspective'. She is quite right when she points out that 'these artists (Joesph Beuys, Christo and Oppenheim) cross boundaries with ease, unconcerned with stereotypes or labels. This exciting blurring of lines opens our minds to consider that a possible way forward for textile art is to stop thinking textiles'. I would go further and add that if embroiderers and textile artists are concerned whether their work is regarded as a valid art form, they should place less emphasis on the importance of technique and more on concept and content. When looking at paintings, visual impact and composition are of prime importance. An awareness and appreciation of concept and meaning follow, then the consideration of technique. A piece of work is measured by its success in conveying what its creator set out to communicate and the interaction of his audience with it. By this I am not suggesting that technique is unimportant, far from it, but I do get the distinct impression that, for embroiderers, the process takes precedence. In other words, how a piece is achieved seems almost more relevant than its visual impact and balance. Could this possibly throw a light on the questions posed by Anne Morrell in her article 'Out of Context' that also appeared in the same issue? If we stressed the 'art' of embroidery then the image portrayed by the media might be less 'skill' orientated.
'The stimulation of inventiveness can only come by discovering the freedom to create without limitations' (Freda Brierley). Like Freda I too have discovered the 'freedom to create without limitations' - unfortunately, this also forces me to accept that my work does not conform, cannot readily be categorised and is therefore difficult to pigeonhole either as textile or art. It is apparently too conceptual, painterly and unembellished for the one school, but because it is of and about textiles (exploiting their visual and tactile qualities and their association with human adornment) it is not acceptable to the other. My work falls very nicely between 'A rock and a hard place'.
Stone or silk, wood or wool, canvas or calico, I believe that it really shouldn't matter which medium is employed in order to convey a message or explore an image; the visual impact is 'the thing'. Who knows? Perhaps if this point of view were to be generally adopted then even my work might find a niche.
Deanna Tyson
Cambridge
Between a rock ...Deanna, I wholeheartedly agree. Far too much emphasis on technique (and even whether it is tidy on the back side!) when the passionate expression and message of any piece should be paramount.
Karin Coldrey