Well Travelled – Exhibition by Anne Kelly
18/01/2023 10:00 am – 12/03/2023 4:00 pm | The Harley Gallery
A patchwork of memories, making, travel and textiles by Anne Kelly, exhibited at The Harley Gallery
Visit the Harley Gallery between January and March this winter to explore textile artist Anne Kelly’s work in abundance.
In Anne’s hands, scraps of fabric, bits and bobs, images and ideas are combined and transformed. The resulting multi-layered and densely stitched embroideries which have been described as ‘small worlds’. These small worlds are often a kind of travel diary. Travel in the sense of trains, boats and planes, but also travel in the sense of personal journeys over time and through history.
Anne derives immense joy and inspiration from new places and new people. She keeps many sketchbooks, wherein she collects bits and pieces, images and ideas. But when making her work she likes to start with a piece of fabric – even a scrap – and build on that. She is a collector (if not a hoarder) of textile related flotsam and jetsam. But she also collects memories; of places she has visited in person, and also places and scenes she has visited in exhibitions, in books and films.
This exhibition celebrates Anne’s book Textile Travels where she shows how to capture your travels, past and present, in stitch with practical techniques sitting alongside inspiring images. Beginning the book by discussing maps in textile art, she goes on to explore the influence of different cultures from across the globe on textile art. From India and Peru to Scotland and Scandinavia, this beautiful book shows how to harness traditional techniques, fabrics, motifs and colours for use in your own work.
Anne’s work reminds us that the mind keeps travelling, regardless of what our bodies are doing. This exhibition invites you to step into Anne’s ‘small worlds’ and join her to celebrate memories of travelling.
Books by Anne Kelly will be available to purchase in the shop.
Tickets: FREE – drop in!
Tickets available for half term courses
About the author
Trained in Canada and at Goldsmiths College in London, Anne creates wall hangings and objects using a mixture of mixed media collage and hand and machine embroidery. Her inspirations are taken from travel, memory, nature and especially folk art. She is a member of the Embroiderers Guild UK, the Crafts Council Directory, the European Textile Network and the Society for Embroidered Work. Anne exhibits widely, has published four books on textile art, and runs regular workshops on textiles and mixed media art. She has been artist in residence in a beautiful garden in Sussex and a hilltop village in Italy.
Events
Patchworks of Places // Take part in our free drop-in community art project
Superhero Mask Workshop // 17th February 10.30am – 12noon
Superhero Cape Workshop // 17th February 12.30pm – 2pm
Artist Talk // Free // 17th February 2.30pm – 3pm
Moving Memories // One-day class at Hope and Elvis inspired by Anne’s latest book ‘Textile Travels’ // 18th February
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