Textile, Silver, Wood

Posted: 10/03/11 09:37 | 2 Comments

Joanna Kinnersly-Taylor is a printed textile artist and designer and tutor with the OCA and is based in Glasgow. She is exhibiting new work at the Danish Cultural Institute in Edinburgh as part of ‘Textile, Silver, Wood’, with Alisdair McKay, Bente Astrup Moe and Sidsel Dorph-Jensen.

joannakinnerslytaylor_course — A course in progress

The current scope of Joanna’s printed textile practice embraces site-specific architectural commissions, one-off artworks, and domestic linens and she is interested in encouraging the cross-fertilisation of ideas that occurs between these different applications. However, it is her one-off works that form the bedrock of her creative identity and rationale right across her practice. These pieces exist in a variety of formats and on different scales and are appropriate for both private and public interior settings.

‘Perpetual Mapping’ forms part of a new series of wall-hung pieces on linen and wool, which explore the theme of ‘plotted routes’ that link place and time. This transient state could be a physical journey from a to b or a direction taken when a decision is reached. Some of the marker points for this journey are symbolised by, or derived from, everyday items such as tickets, labels or envelopes, that denote travel and progression. An envelope opened out reveals an interior like an abstract landscape; the tiny repeating patterns seeming to create a layer of map notation, whilst the overall composition is scaled up and creates entry and exit points. Others elements may encapsulate the internal mapping of thoughts, as well as the external path taken, and the more structured approach of a physical map in respect of its gridding, numbering and key to symbols.

joannakinnerslytaylor_lost_and_found_(detail) — Lost and Found JK Taylor

One shape is used across all the works and this evolved through linking a series of places lived in through a lifetime. It is not important for the viewer to know the origin of this motif, but by underpinning the work with personal meaning and research, Joanna aims to imbue a sense of recognition so that the viewer may read the composition in multiple ways, allowing individual interpretation. Examining ideas of boundaries, junctions and intersections, where one thing may start, end, or overlap another, the layering of time, place and memory, is reflected in the compositions. Areas of repeating pattern – the magnolia image is used to give a sense of the domestic, perhaps like wallpaper or furnishing fabric fragment – combine with individual design elements, to evolve new spatial rhythms.

joannakinnerslytaylor_danishculturalinstituteexhibition — Danish Cultural Institute exhibition

In the ‘linen drawings’ the ‘journey shape’ is stitched then scanned, overlaid many times then build up again at the screen-printing stage. ‘Emerge’ explores a sense of the passing of time and layers of experience in a life, revealing something at the core – underneath it all is a sense of self. Here the shape is a life, a person, a presence.

Joanna works through a number of stages over many weeks before arriving at the finished piece – writing; gathering, sifting and rationalising of ideas and imagery; development through drawing; image preparation; screen processing; colour mixing and testing; dyeing and sampling – in fact there is a lot of drudgery involved with the creation of printed textiles, despite the sense of immediacy of the printing moment itself. However, all these stages play an important part in the evolution of the creative process.

Joanna received a Craftmaker’s Award from Glasgow Life and Creative Scotland to support this work and will continue to develop ideas explored in ‘Perpetual Mapping’ in future works.

For further information and images of Joanna’s work, please see her newly-launched website: www.joannakinnerslytaylor.com where there are also details about weekend workshops and 5 day courses in printed textiles that she runs in her Glasgow studio.

joannakinnerslytaylor_emerge — joannakinnerslytaylor Emerge

Posted by author: Jane Parry

2 thoughts on “Textile, Silver, Wood”

Roberta says:

10th March 2011 at 8:57 pm

Glad you have included this item, I’ll visit the exhibition which sounds fascinating, and will try to go on a course with Joanna to extend my sphere of printmaking.
Roberta

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pamela hargest says:

16th March 2011 at 9:46 am

I have just seen your work its looks very interesting, when doing my degree I incorporated textile with silver, looking at your work I wish I had continued along those lines.

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