Prism Textiles - Dictionary Exhibition - London - April 2026

Ross Belton - Vessel
Representing the concept of containment, transport and the relationship between container and contents across cultures

 

The annual Prism Textiles exhibition at the Art Pavilion, Mile End, London is one of the highlights of my textile year.  Not only is the venue fantastic and beautifully located, the textile work is varied and interesting and there are free workshops.  This year the theme was Dictionary - interpreted in multiple ways by members of the group.  A challenge this year for visitors was the tube strike, which was in force on the two occasions when I visited.   However, using the Santander bikes for hire solved the problem for us, although the cycling was a bit hairy until we discovered (only on the final journey, unfortunately) that we could make almost the entire journey along the Regent's Canal! 

Prism tells us that this year's exhibition "explores the hidden meanings embedded in words: their origins, their shifting forms across centuries, misunderstandings, transformations, and cultural echoes."

Here I show a few personal favourites from the exhibition.

Judith Rowley - C is for Colour
Natural fabrics and fibres with hand and machine stitch
Sometimes a dictionary definition isn't enough, colour has to be seen to be appreciated.

Jane Riley - The dictionary of infinite revision
Wood, wool, linen, cotton, silk, woollen blanket, plastic and cardboard
A physical dictionary is obsolete as we embrace a digital future.  The Pink Paint seaweed encrusting the cover of this dictionary also faces extinction with rising ocean temperatures and acidification.

Jill Walker - Florilegium I
Cyanotype, stitch & gathered materials
A language rooted in materials rather than words

Maria Walker - Women's words
Preloved jacket, felt, thread, words
A dictionary of synonyms for women sewn onto a jacket
There are many derogatory terms for women in dictionaries written by the established patriarchy who dominated literature and language for many years

Annie Taylor - List, Less, Listless
Textile scraps, thread
The artist cannot work without a list so being listless represents having nothing to do.  If it's not written down, it can't be done.

Jeryl Church - The Twisting of the Truth
Tissuetex, ink, papers, konnyaku paste, paper yarn, linen thread
Represents the manipulation of words to promote false narratives and disinformation

Helen O'Leary - Treasure 1
Mixed materials, textiles, stitch, knitted wire
"Treasure" as babies' bootees 

Marilyn Hall - A tin ticket and a small bag
Used natural cloths, indigo dye, linen thread
Minor misdemeanours by women in 19th century Britain could lead to deportation.  They carried an identity tag and a bag of fabric scraps that they could stitch into items to sell.

Julie Turner - Grief: noun: as in distress caused by loss
Rust, heat press print, plant material, plant dyed fabric, wax
Made in response to the deaths of refugees crossing the channel

I also took a Stitched Textile Vessels workshop with Maria Walker... 

Maria Walker - An empty vessel makes the most noise
Cloth, thread
Work exploring the word "vessel" from a feminist context

Maria Walker's Example Stitched Textile Vessels

My Stitched Vessel - A Work in Progress

and a Scrappy Dolls Workshop with Annie Taylor...  

My Scrappy Doll

Both workshops were great fun and informative.  You can see their work and my works in progress above. 

I hope that gives you a flavour of the varied and fabulous works that were on display. The exhibition has finished now so you can't visit but do keep it in mind for next year. Also, a shout out to The Coffee Room, which is the closest cafe to the Art Pavilion.  Who knew red velvet doughnuts could be so good!

Prism Textiles - Any Other Business, Art Pavilion, Mile End, London

Lynne Chapman - The 90% Beneath (detail)

 

I have recently been to Prism Textiles' annual exhibition at the Art Pavilion, Mile End, London.  Prism are an international group of textile artists who push the boundaries of textile art and promote its visibility.  They  exhibit annually at this lovely venue.  Prism members also run a variety of free workshops during the exhibition so it's well worth getting the date in your diary for future years!

This year's title and theme was "Any Other Business" which was diversely interpreted and showcased a wide variety of techniques.  Here's a few of my favourites...

Lynne Chapman - The 90% Beneath

Lynne Chapman's iceberg shows us the 10% of life that is made up of planned events versus the other 90% which is made up of the mundane that keeps everything going or "the unsung powerhouse of chores" as Lynne puts it. How very true!

I liked the use of a carpet making technique in Sally Spinks' cigarettes - "Fine Line". The piece draws attention to an industry that kills people and continues to lobby to promote its interests...

Sally Spinks - Fine Line

Nerissa Cargill Thompson's "12 Percent" presents a pie chart of where our plastic goes: 46% incinerated, 25% goes to landfill, 17% exported, leaving only 12% recycled in the UK.  This was a colourful and unusual way to illustrate our plastic problem...

Nerissa Cargill Thompson - 12 Percent

Pauline Cattle presents beauty, pattern and colour in everyday natural processes.  I particularly liked the contrasts of colour and texture in this piece...

Pauline Cattle - Drippings l

Helen O'Leary's poignant pieces "Mending l" suggests that repairing damage to garments adds its own story to a garment's history and is restorative to both the garment and the mender whereas "Losing Touch" draws attention to our frailty as we age...

Helen O'Leary - Losing Touch 1 & Mending 1

Jeryl Church's piece "Conspicuous Consumption" made from till receipts and packaging materials draws attention to our need to address our uncontrolled consumerism.  I loved Jeryl's use of consumerist packaging to highlight this issue...

Jeryl Church - Conspicuous Consumption (detail)

Julieanne Long's piece is inspired by the worry of environmental destruction through climate change and the lack of govermental action across the world to address this issue.  I thought this piece looked like fleeting thoughts passing through one's mind...

Julieanne Long - A Sense of Place (detail)

Sharon Kearley's work considers the duality of the fragility of life and the gratitude for love and memories experienced while living.  I liked how the rust had changed the textile...

Sharon Kearley

In Amanda Bloom's "Reliquaries" we are asked to consider what things we might hold sacred.  I loved the colours and intriguing objects in Amanda's "Reliquaries"...

Amanda Bloom - Reliquaries (detail)

Sue Reddish's two works, "Patched" & "Pieced", use cotton, a textile from which Manchester made its fortune, to explore Manchester's business transitions and changing cityscape.  The colours and composition of these pieces were great...

Sue Reddish - Patched & Pieced

Judith Isaac Lewis harnesses the power of weeds, plants usually disregarded and disliked, to ecoprint and dye her work to beautiful effect...

Judith Isaac Lewis - Overlooked 1

There were, of course, many other amazing works and artists.  The above represents just a small selection.  Prism's exhibition is over for this year but do look out for next year's and visit if you can.

If you want to read about Prism's exhibition last year you can find it here.

Prism Textiles at the Art Pavilion, Mile End, London

 

Sue Burley - Nature v City (centre) & City v Nature detail (left & right)

I have recently been to see the Prism Textiles Group Edgelands Exhibition at the Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, London, E3 4QY which was wonderful.  Prism are an international group of textile artists who push the boundaries of textile art and promote its visibility.  They  exhibit annually at this lovely venue and it is genuinely a highlight of the textile art year and this year was no exception.  Prism members also run a variety of free workshops during the exhibition which are also well worth attending.  Edgelands is on until 29 April 2024 - a definite must see!

Maria Wigley - Linguistic Entropy

The artists exhibiting were responding to the theme "Edgelands" and a huge variety of textile and mixed media techniques were in evidence. There were 59 contributing artists.  In this blogpost, I am showing just a dozen of my highlights which are only a small fraction of the fabulous work on display. 

Lynne Chapman - Buried Treasure (back detail, front, front detail)

Jacqueline Adkins - Bridge I & II

Judith Isaac Lewis - Nature Pages

Amanda Hislop - Out of sight, farmland fragments found

Aran Illingworth - Heron

Hayley Mills Styles - LS6 detail

Anne Amosford - Once were Sheep

Kim McCormack - The Wet Desert

Ross Belton - Laid Bare: The Ages of Man

Wolfgang Woerner - Distance loses all rational meaning

Whilst I was visiting Wolfgang Woerner was leading a workshop which I attended. Everyone was given a padded shape and encouraged to explore blanket stitch in its many variations e.g. density, size, direction, form and to share their results.  It was a very amusing, enjoyable and relaxing session.  Thank you, Wolfgang! Here are the results...  

  

Wolfgang Woerner Workshop

You can read the directions for a step free route to the Art Pavilion from Mile End Underground station here.  It's a great exhibition - do go if you can!  You can download the exhibition catalogue here to find out more about the artists and their work. It's on until 5pm on Monday 29 April 2024.

Britta Marakatt-Labba at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

Felled Forest - Britta Marakatt-Labba

Felled Forest (detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

Recently I took a trip to Birmingham to see an exhibition called Under the Vast Sky by Britta Marakatt-Labba at the Ikon Gallery. Britta Marakatt-Labba is a Sámi artist from Sweden.  The Sámi people are an indigenous population of northern Scandinavia and northwest Russia, an area called Sápmi in their own language and which has, in the past, been referred to in English as Lapland.

Felled Forest - Britta Marakatt-Labba

Felled Forest (detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

Traditionally, the Sámi have pursued a variety of livelihoods including coastal fishing, fur trapping, sheep herding and their best-known means of livelihood - semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Marakatt-Labba's work features the history, culture and cosmology of the Sámi, illustrating community and everyday life and topics including terrorism and climate emergency.

Mineral Extraction - Britta Marakatt-Labba

Embroidery is Marakatt-Labba's main craft but she also uses collage, sculpture and installation, all of which are evident in the exhibition. Alot of her work on show is panoramic in view and you need to get up close to see the fabulous detail of her stitched work.

History (detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

There are a number of watercolour paintings (History - see above) that form the preparatory design for a 24m long work that hangs in the Arctic University of Norway in Tromso which details Sámi culture, language, history and cosmology.

A political piece called The Crows (Garjjat) deals with the historic moment when a group of activists staged a peaceful protest against the expansion of a hydro electric power plant in Alta in northern Norway.  Marakatt-Labba took part in the protest herself and was imprisoned.  Using the crow, which is a symbol of authority to the Sámi, she shows them changing into policemen who charge at the activists.  These protests paved the way for politcal reforms which led to the establishment of a Sámi parliament.

The Crows - Britta Marakatt-Labba

The Crows (detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

The Crows (the detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

The installation piece, Events in Time, repurposes large flour sacks stamped with the image of the German eagle and swastika, a remnant of German occupation of Norway in World War 2, hung in a circle reminiscent of a traditional abode. These may have been acquired through barter between the Sámi and soldiers and belonged to Marakatt-Labba's aunt.  One of the sacks has an embroidery referencing the terrorist attack of Uttoya by right wing extremist, Anders Behring Breivik, who is depicted as a double headed bird of prey, surrounded by guns with bullets spraying out. 

Events in time - Britta Marakatt-Labba

Events in time (detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

Events in time (detail of reverse) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

There are also some Sámi godesses wearing the horned hat or ládjogahpir  (once prohibited under colonial rule).  When depicted in red it symbolises resistance and protection as here.  It appears in much of Marakatt-Labba's work.  When shown in blue it symbolises sorrow and mourning for the wounded earth as well as grieving and loss of a way of life and the knowledge tied up with that.

Events in time (detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

There are also some sculptures featuring the heads of the Sámi godesses...

Granite Sculpture - Britta Marakatt-Labba

The fish is sacred in Sámi culture and acts as a mediator between the world of the living and the netherworld. This collage of dried fish skin has been embroidered on.

I have caught them all (detail) - Britta Marakatt-Labba

While I was there I was able to take part in a workshop which is part of a series run by textile artist Maria Wigley and uses Marakatt-Labba's work as inspiration.  We began the process of making some stitched books.  It was a really enjoyable session. Maria herself is inspired by text and mark making and is a member of the Prism textile group. You can catch the current Prism exhibition,UNTOLD, including Maria's work, at The Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, Clinton Road, E3 4QY until 18th April 2022.

Britta Marakatt-Labba's exhibition is on at the Ikon Gallery until 29 May 2022.  Definitely a must see exhibition!

The Ikon Gallery has a cafe attached - the Yorks Cafe.  It also has a small shop and some lockers to leave your things in while you look round.  Well worth a trip!