Archives inspire

This is a post from the weareoca.com archive. Information contained within it may now be out of date.
 
Sarah Taylor, Curriculum Leader for Textiles, reports back on a stimulating day in the archivesThe Constance Howard Gallery at Goldsmiths University of London provided the two tutors and fifteen students (including one from Illustration) with an intimate setting to look, analyse and debate the eclectic mix of textiles on display. The day was organised to view archive pieces from the personal collection of Constance Howard,a collection acknowledged as representing, ‘a landmark in the history of British twentieth century textile art’ (1) alongside new work from the‘Small Talk’ exhibition by the 62 Group of Textile Artists. We also visited the Queen’s House, Royal Museums, Greenwich to see the newly commissioned artworks by 62 Group member, Alice Kettle.

Constance Howard was pioneering in her field and an avid collector of textiles which form part of her personal collection in the Constance Howard Resource & Research Centre. She spent 36 years of her career at Goldsmiths and led the textile degree from 1964 until her retirement in 1975. In the words of historian and political biographer, Ben Pimlott,‘As an artist and teacher, she transformed the status of embroidery and textile design(2).
We were treated to a stunning piece by the artist, The Harlequins 1958/59, and a variety of fascinating teaching samples, carefully selected by archivist Lizzie Cannon. The samples were characteristic of Constance Howard’s creative risk-taking and innovative approach and soon prompted lively discussions about materials and techniques used. Her students ‘were encouraged to experiment with textile techniques at all times’ (3) – something as important today as it was then!

The Collection also contained fabric lengths from Japanese textile company Nuno; world-renowned for their innovative textiles combining the latest technologies and fibre science with traditional techniques and natural materials. We saw fabrics with tightly woven pleats created through double cloth structure;highly textural surfaces created by the loosely tensioned, overspun yarn; and, fluid, spatter-plated stainless steel coatings (on woven polyester),a process adopted from the automobile industry. It was hard to say whether the tutors or the students were more enthusiastic.
There were diverse representations by twenty-nine of the 62 Group exhibiting in ‘Small Talk’. Many of these artists had associations with Goldsmiths either as previous tutors or students.  Exhibited in this context, the legacy to the innovations that had gone before seemed particularly pertinent. As Lizzie Cannon explained, the Group was founded in 1962 by three former embroidery tutors in an attempt to create exhibition opportunities for their students. In those days, embroidery was seen as ‘a genteel hobby for ladies of leisure’ (4) something which they were keen to disassociate themselves with.
Discussions happened spontaneously as students questioned techniques, materials and construction methods. Heather Belcher’s ‘Half a blanket’ demanded close inspection. It was inspired by traditional Welsh blankets and was made from two pieces of hand woven cloth. The felted piece provided us with an interesting discussion point with its intriguing layered construction and the juxtaposition of edge qualities. To the right was Hazel Bruce’s artwork, ‘When to stop re working?’ which seemed almost constrained in comparison within the somewhat confined edges of the piece. Perhaps this was intentional as the ‘impact of limitations’ and ‘strip patchwork’ were key themes?  I liked the idea that it hinted at a time when every scrap of fabric had value. We were told that Constance Howard was known to use up odd fabric scraps for her sampling. In contrast to the playful and intuitive stitchwork of Hazel’s was Audrey Walker’s arresting piece, ‘The Sleeper’. This cleverly used simple running stitch in cotton and silk threads to depict tone, form, luminosity and pattern in an interesting 2D/3D mix.

Our final textile viewing of the day coincided with a guided tour of Alice Kettle’s newly commissioned pieces for the Queen’s House, Greenwich as part of the inaugural project for the new Royal Museums’ Greenwich contemporary arts programme. These drew inspiration from the Museum’s portrait collection and the flamboyance of the Tudor and Stuart court in its original setting as a garden retreat. This setting couldn’t have been more dramatic nor the works in response to this more intriguing. The 12 metre long pendant sculpture elegantly hung from the skylight echoing detailing from the spiral staircase and members of the public were invited to contribute to the making of this which included two of our students! We were told that the portraits chosen for the North West Parlour exhibits were selected based on the richness of the clothing depicted in the paintings rather than on the wealth or importance of the person. The patterned fabrics, lavishly embroidered cloths and lace collars from these 17^thportraits were a key inspiration for these new artworks.
Our discussions provided meaningful links to personal study. Whatever links were made, I think we all took something positive away from this, I know I did!  This trip showed us the importance of using archives to research, inspire and challenge new ideas.
References
(1) Goldsmith Textile Collection & Constance Howard Gallery: Object Collection, http://www.vads.ac.uk/collections/CHM.html
(2) The Guardian, Thursday 20 July, 2000.
(3) Core Record: Content and subject information, Goldsmith Textile Collection & Constance Howard Gallery: Object Collection, http://www.vads.ac.uk/collections/CHM.html
(4)  “Small Talk” exhibition guide, Audrey Walker, 2013.
Images:

• OCA students working from the Archive
• Constance Howard, ‘The Harlequins’
• Goldsmiths Textile Collection, Teaching sample
• Nuno, spatter-plated stainless steel coated polyester
• Work by Alice Kettle