Clothing - Fabric of the East

New work by Dorothy Reglar
and Tim Parry-Williams

1 May to 20 June

This show looks at the work of two textile artists with very different approaches to working.

Dorothy Reglar is a Designer Maker, who for the past fifteen years has been working with a silk farm in Laos where the silk is grown and hand woven on traditional looms.

Tim Parry-Williams is a Weaver and Fashion lecturer who has spent many years working in the textile industry in Japan.  Tim is also a member of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen.

Each artist is inspired by the cultures they work with and produces textiles for garments, one from the handlooms in Laos, the other from the great industrial looms in Japan. The exhibition examines the motives of these makers, we see how they choose their ‘ingredients’ (their yarn) with great care in order to achieve the fabric they desire.

We learn that the control of yarn and weave influences decisions about how the garments are made. Both artists instinctively understand how fabric will behave off the loom and demonstrate their knowledge of process.

Dorothy and Tim show their appreciation and respect for the traditions and cultures they work with and describe the collaborative experience of working in a foreign environment. Producing work in another cultural context requires an understanding of different working patterns. For example in Laos the silk is not farmed when it is the rice planting or harvesting season. In Japan Tim has to understand human hierarchies and the whole mechanics of the textile production systems.

By showing the sequence chronologically from design to manufacture, as well as highlighting the different approaches to fabric making in different cultures, the exhibition represents a ‘Philosophy of Making’. 

 

Exhibition links

SW01  Shibori dyeing Saturday  8 May

SW02  Shibori dyeing weekend  8 and 9 May

SW03  Textile study day  Saturday 22 May

SW04  Screen printing weekend  29 and 30 May

SW05  Indigo weekend  5 and 6 June

If you enjoy hunting for exotic and unusual objects come along to our Bizarre Bazaar on Saturday, 12 June, from 10am to 3pm.  Ancient trunks, attics and cellars have been emptied of bric-a-brac, china, books, vintage textiles and designer fashion. Come and hunt out some treasure.

Dorothy and Tim will be on hand in a Special Edition Artists Cafe on Tuesday, 4 May.  Join us for an informal interview or three-way discussion when we hope to learn entertaining trade secrets from these well-travelled artists. Don’t forget to bring your own question along for the Q&A session.

Steppes Travel, based just around the corner from New Brewery Arts, is sponsoring our programme in conjunction with the CLOTHing - Fabric of the East exhibition.  Steppes Travel has been tailor-making travel beyond the ordinary for 21 years.  They create holidays to the far flung corners of the globe  See their web pages for tours of China and Japan.

 

Interesting info...

Tim and Dorothy were instrumental in designing and creating the New Brewery Arts 'Coat in a Day' as part of our Make It celebration weekend in June 2009.