Skip to main content

Fragments


 Some days are just your lucky days - today I was very fortunate and privileged to open the first ever Australian exhibition "Fragments" by  UK  Fibre Artist Sue Hotchkis.  Here is a little about the techniques of this amazing textile artist from her own website ... 

Working intuitively with print and stitch, marks, textures and colours are exaggerated, intensified to reveal the detail and complexity within the images. Materials are deconstructed using modern methods, ripped, burnt and dyed. Time is invested in their reconstruction; pieces can take from a week to several months to create. Whilst being aesthetically pleasing the work can also act as a metaphor for deterioration and ruin, associated with urban decay and ultimately death and loss. They evolve organically, built up with layers of print, cloth, paper, and stitch into three-dimensional abstract forms that hover between object and image; to create a unique, visual and tactile landscape of form and texture. Challenging traditional understandings of the division between the visible and the unseen.


At the opening, I didn't  really need to say much as these art works  ”speak for themselves” but that is too much of cliché. When discussing what I intended to say tonight with the Timeless Textiles Wednesday group, I asked them to give me a few words. The superlatives flowed - superb, brilliant, impressive, engaging, amazing…. But I had my own description....   
Seductive - and I don’t mean that in any raunchy way, but in that fascinating magnetic attraction which is irresistible. With Sue’s work, you are first attracted by the form, shape, texture and colour and once engaged, you are tempted to look much more closely and then to contemplate.  At this stage, you are then challenged by the dichotomy of ideas and values - the natural vs man made; old vs new, the shiny vs the decaying while experiencing the beauty in the connection.  While you embrace the appeal of the bright and the clear, you appreciate the quieter, more tentative beauty which is present in this work.  Sue Hotchkis notices and appreciates   the wabi sabi sense of the beauty in the  imperfect, the decaying and evolving.
We in Newcastle are privileged to see this wonderful body of  work, but even more privileged because through her work, Sue gives us another ‘eye’ , or rather another ‘sense’ to experience another beauty , one which we would generally dismiss or overlook.
Sue Hotchkis at "Fragments" exhibition opening at Timeless Textiles Gallery
Photo by Maggie Hall 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Meditations on Mercator

‘ The Timelessness of Stitch’ was an invitational group exhibition at Timeless Textiles Gallery, Newcastle NSW , 1 April  – 10 May 2026   ….  Across generations and cultures, the act of stitching has woven together stories, traditions and identities. Each thread carries not only aesthetic value but also the memories and emotions of those who crafted it, demonstrating how this simple act transcends time and place. I was honoured and humbled to be amongst the twenty-three artists (national and international) participating in this exhibition. My small installation took some time to develop…. Although I knew about this exhibition for some time, I kept procrastinating, going from one idea to another and not settling on any. Recently, I came across the word “mercator” and while a vague notion of maps was recalled, I really needed to research. Besides the modern commercial connections, Mercator has its origins in cartography, which Is often a source of inspiration for my ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...
3 comments
Read more

Is it a mutant? Is it an alien? It's an octopus - or is it?

Have you ever thought how strange a creature the octopus is?  This week's fascination started when I asked the question, "What colour is an octopus when it's underwater?"  The answer is  "any colour it wants to be " -  An octopus' coloration depends upon its surroundings.  An octopus possesses the ability to alter its coloration depending on its immediate environment. This defensive technique protects the animal from predators and entices prey to come close to the animal . ((from  https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/color-octopus-be94f74fcdc74ebe)    . Why did I want to know the colour of an octopus? Because I wanted to draw octopus tentacles as mermaid hair for my art journal! Then, I began to think it might be considered a little too weird and even perverse to give a mermaid octopus hair.... Facebook friends assured me that this was not so, citing Medusa and her snake hair as a precedent, and even one friend said that she thought it was l...
Post a Comment
Read more