Tamworth Regional Gallery will open its doors to host two new textile exhibitions into summer; the 2020 Seed Stitch Contemporary Textile Award and Never Ending Thread – my adventures with cloth.
Tamworth Regional Council, Art Gallery and Museums Director, Bridget Guthrie said the two exhibitions complement one another and continue the relationship that the Gallery has with textile art dating back to the early 1970s.
The 2020 Seed Stitch Contemporary Textile Award is a biennial exhibition presented by the Australian Design Centre in partnership with the Seed Stitch Collective. This year, 25 finalists showcase a wide selection of contemporary textiles ranging from waste to silk, with themes covering artificial intelligence, the environment and the current pandemic.
“There were a large number of entries received from New South Wales textile artists in the 2020 Seed Stitch Contemporary Textile Award. The calibre of these artworks is outstanding and we’re lucky enough to have the finalists work on display here in Tamworth” Ms Guthrie said.
The Never Ending Thread – my adventures with cloth exhibition uses a combination of weaving, drawing and dyeing, mixing modern techniques with age-old traditions.
Ellen Howell, the artist of the Never Ending Thread – my adventures with cloth, was inspired by the nature of a circular economy after spending time in India as part of a textile residency in Odisha.
Ms Howell said to grow cloth, harvest the fibre, spin, weave and fashion the garment is a creative process of making that can delight the viewer with unexpected stories.
“Included in Ms Howell’s exhibition is a feature piece that is a collaborative work with textile artist and designer, Michelle Tindale, who met Ellen in India,” Ms Guthrie said.
Both exhibitions will open to the public tomorrow (Saturday 28 November) and will be on display until Sunday 7 February, 2021.
