Mr Gatty's Experiment Shed

As part of the first British Textile Biennial in October this year I am developing a new piece of work, Mr Gatty’s Experiment Shed. This project is supported by Arts Council England and I am grateful to Hannah Lamb and Chris Squires for their additional curatorial, installation and technical support and to Community Solutions North West who are hosting the work.

Mr Gatty’s Experiment Shed explores the layered histories of a former industrial site in Accrington, East Lancashire, the purpose built ‘experiment shed’ of F.A Gatty, 19th century textile industrialist and dye innovator. In the bicentenary year of Gatty’s birth this new interdisciplinary work, created through an authentic engagement and co-production process with local residents will produce an installation in this unique space. It will allow a reimagining of the physical ephemera of the industry and the raw materials that drove it. A focus on the heritage of the madder plant, slow growing, entangled and embedded in the place will add to this sensory experience. On October 25th and 26th there will be an opportunity to visit the installation and view work co-curated with the local community. Also on the 25th October I will be delivering a practical workshop [sold out] about the madder plant using materials grown on site. Madder was a significant dye in this part of Pennine Lancashire from the late 18th century and used in Turkey red dyeing and printing.

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I have been engaged as Artist in Residence in this area of Pennine Lancashire since 2016, commissioned by Super Slow Way. This is an arts programme shaped by local communities working alongside a wide range of artists and organisations. I work with local participants at Community Solutions North West a social enterprise based at Elmfield Hall, near Accrington. I have written more about the ‘Local Colour’ residency in the September issue of Embroidery magazine. The British Textile Biennial programme will shortly be available here with full details of this event and many others across Pennine Lancashire between 3rd October and 3rd November 2019.

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madder root and gatty red

I am currently at the start of an eight month residency, ‘Local Colour’, based in Accrington, Lancashire, commissioned by Super Slow Way. This is a new commissioning body funded through Arts Council England as part of their Creative People and Places funding stream. It is hosted by the Canal and River Trust. A programme of work with local, national and international artists is being delivered in a series of commissioned and community-based residencies focussed on the bicentenary of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. ‘Local Colour’ is based at Elmfield Hall (c.1853) the former home of a textile industrialist, Albert Gatty, who specialised in Turkey Red print and dye techniques and who later became an innovator in the creation of a mineral khaki dye for use in army uniforms. The house is now the base of a social enterprise, Community Solutions North West, an organisation specialising in community engagement and support for vulnerable adults. 

Pictured (top left) is the interior of a small private dye house that Gatty had built next to his house where he could conduct his experiments. It has been virtually untouched since the late nineteenth century.  The project proposes to use a slow methodology to explore historical connections to the area around Elmfield Hall using ‘whole process’ working: seed-to-fabric projects where participants engage in activities that have a localised approach. The focus will partly be around the use of madder in Turkey Red printing. In the context of this durational project the creative processes of talking and making, or conversations through making, will be used to explore Elmfield Hall and its environs. In my proposal for the residency I quoted Lucy Lippard who describes ‘…a layered location replete with human histories and memories, place has width as well as depth. It’s about connections, what surrounds it, what formed it, what happened there, what will happen there.’ (2007, p.7). I'll report back on our progress as the project develops.

:: My engagement with this blog has been sporadic to say the least in 2016. It's been a very busy year for me and has included some big changes and challenges. I'm planning to write another blog post soon with some information about a new long term project, my PhD research, an update about Lasting Impressions and workshop and exhibition news. Many thanks for continuing to support my work, for reading my book and for visiting my Instagram feed this year. It is very much appreciated.

...by a thread...

Since late last year I have been involved in a research residency at Gawthorpe Textile Collection funded through the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Museum Collections Fund. The collection is based at Gawthorpe Hall near Burnley in Lancashire and I have had the pleasure of working with their curatorial team getting to know the collection and exploring narratives within it.

The Elizabethan hall has been closed for repair and renovation for much of the last year and to mark the reopening of the building a new group exhibition ...by a thread... has just opened. Inspired by the invisible mending techniques used on the stonework of the building ...by a thread... is an open call exhibition exploring visibly mended textiles.

The curator writes, "While the stonework within the Hall was being mended - quite invisibly - we became interested in repair which did the opposite. We started looking for examples of mending which were invisible and actually made a feature of wear and tear. We discovered that with textile items, repair can be storytelling, creative and commemorative. It can add something extra and bring new meaning and emotion to an object. It can tell us more about people, history, memories and lives."

The examples exhibited display thoughtful and careful mending and include Bridget Harvey's blue jumper, Jacy Wall's Japanese boro jacket, David Worsley's darned jeans, Angela Maddock's denim jacket, Coreen Cottam's family quilt, a restored teddy by Karen Suzuki, Jenni Steele's 1930's nurses apron and a pair of Japanese boro bloomers from my own collection. The items are accompanied by a piece of writing by each lender. These words are sometimes tender, sometimes defiant, and are full of the emotional and material connections we make when we take the time to repair something.

 ...by a thread... is at Gawthorpe Hall until 20th June. A masterclass inspired by the exhibition and by items in the Gawthorpe Textile Collection will take place on Friday 15th July. For further details please visit the website.