Ain't the Archies - Margaret

 

The Archibald Prize, a prestigious Australian portraiture art award is celebrating its 100th year. Every year, artists portray celebrities, local "heroes" , famous and infamous personalities in what has become a living social history. The Archibald Prize  is administered by the trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and awarded for "the best portrait, preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics, painted by an artist resident in Australia during the twelve months preceding the date fixed by the trustees. 

In Newcastle, at Timeless Textiles Gallery,  a current exhibition "Ain't the Archies" is a portraiture show with a difference. All the portraits are textile art works, all the artists are textile artists, and all the subjects are textile artists. Twenty chosen  artists from Australia, Germany, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy and United States are represented in this show. I am feeling very honoured to have a small portrait of Margaret Adams, an artist friend included. 

Margaret Adams has been an artist all her life. in the last ten years, Margaret  has drawn on her extensive skills in painting and sculpture to become a textile and mixed media artist   She  specialises in creating thoughtful artistic fabric and paper collages and artist books. Margaret is a friend and has been a great influence on my own work.

This work is a collaged and stitched portrait is made using fragments of repurposed fabric in monotone colours to reference the understated approach Margaret prefers. I wanted to portray her quiet reflective personality and her gentle love of nature.   Hand embroidered eyes are a feature to emphasise Margaret’s blue eyes, which in real life sparkle with liveliness and creativity.

I worked mainly from a photo, although in pre-Covid times, I would see Margaret weekly, so a lot has also been drawn from memory.  I manipulated the photo and did lots of sketches before  tearing and cutting fabric and stitching. I started with the eyes, and when I was reasonably happy with that stitching moved to the hair. Most of the facial features were created by looking carefully at where shadows fell and filling in spaces rather than trying to follow outlines. 

The decision about  "framing" this work was easy ... I didn't really want a  "frame" but found a large embroidery hoop was just what it needed to maintain the theme of  recycling/upcycling and also to reference 'textile art" and embroidery . 

I am very grateful to Margaret for allowing me to "portray" her and trusting me enough to create an acceptable but artistic  likeness.  Thank you. 

There are truly amazing artworks in this exhibition from very large innovative works using surprising materials, to experimental works using traditional techniques to performance art.  "Ain't the Archies"  contributing artist are Alysn Midgelow-Marsden: Anne Kelly: Anne Kempton; Anne Leon, Brett Alexander; Chris Clifton; Dionne Swift; Emily Tull; Jim Arendt; Jo Hamilton; Judy Hooworth; Katarina Krenkel: Marie Bergstedt; Mary Pal; Melissa Campbell; Kerstin Bennier; Sharon Peoples; Sue Stone; Sylvia Watt and Wilma Simmons. 

At the moment, during the NSW lockdown , it is not possible to visit this exhibition in person, but here is a LINK to a virtual tour and to the individual works  on the website . 

By the end of the exhibition, (12 September) there  will also be  YouTube interviews with all the artists.  Here's to "Ain't the Archies" becoming a tradition in the world of textile and fibre art.