walkley

Jane Walkley: Sunny Bank Mills; a site-specific interaction

Materials :
Size (H x W cm) approx: 53 x 43

For sale: £750
W:
E:

What the artist says:

I am a Leeds-based contemporary tapestry artist working with jesmonite, an eco-friendly acrylic resin capable of replicating intricate detail. Through my practice I consider how industrial buildings that are no longer used for their original purpose invoke memory and attachment. These atmospheric spaces hold evidence of their past use; the derelict, the decayed and the re-purposed.

I work predominantly with found objects from the site, reproducing these in jesmonite to create small units which I then weave into cloth on an upright loom. Vibrant colour is used, chosen from the graffitied walls, with the bold shift in gradients taken from historic dye books. The finished work takes on a sculptural quality that explores the combination of traditional techniques with new material technology. This approach enables the work to maintain a physical and visual connection to the site it documents, linking place, memory and materiality from the past to the present day.

I have however adapted the piece following the result of the General Election. It will have Keep Left subtly woven into the deep selvedge and the piece itself will be a red gradient with the intensity of colour increasing to the left. The work is built up from impressions of weaving pegs taken from a Northern Mill with the fabric of the building embedded within the jesmonite impressions. Activism and protest has always gone hand in hand in our Northern Mills and as our mills evolve through regeneration and bring in a new body of workers and artists, I see protest continuing with them. I am aware that Matlock voted 29356 for Conservative and 11975 for Labour. I'm not sure whether the piece is subtle or not, or whether anyone will see it for what it is.

Photo © Luke Holroyd