Over the summer we welcomed back some of our alumni Hotwalls artists and they brought their artwork with them to display at their very own exhibitions!
Alex Hagen held her ‘At Edge of Light’ exhibition in July in the Round Tower. Alex is a textile artist who specialises in the Japanese stitch resist technique of Shibori and the use of indigo and other botanical dyes. Shibori is a slow and complex process. Each piece of fabric is hand stitched, the threads are pulled up and tied off, then the fabric is repeatedly dyed in an indigo vat. Finally the fabric is rinsed and the stitches are removed to reveal the resist.
Her approach considers the environmental impact of working with textiles. She is part of a growing movement which encourages slow making and slow consumption. Wherever possible she uses organic and/or GOTS certified fabrics including linen, hemp, hemp-cotton and ramie, as well as vintage and antique fabrics.
Alex has a degree in Fine Art/Painting from Chelsea College of Art, London and she is a student of Japanese Textiles master Bryan Whitehead, who is based in Fujino, Japan. She works and teaches from her studio within the historic Fort Cumberland in Portsmouth, UK.
Instagram: @refold.space
Winnie May and Roo Abrook hosted a collaborative exhibition called ‘Lipstick Traces’ in September. Winnie May and Roo used to be a part of Fire Monkey Arts in Studio 1. The alumni exhibition was inspired by the music culture from their teen years, post-punk fanzines and music posters.
“All of the work is collaborative. We dabbled with that for the show in Chapel Arts Cheltenham last year but each piece looked either very Roo or very Winniemmay. This time we have pushed that much further. We created and destroyed each other’s work. It was a very liberating and exciting process.”- Winnie May.
“We both celebrate strong women within our work and continue this within this series of new works. The ‘Lipstick’ portraits are edgy and excel a powerful energy. Maybe it’s the times we’ve been going through, having to pull all our energy and strengths together.” -Roo Abrook
Instagram: @winniemmay and @rooabrook
Quotes from https://southseafolk.uk/lipstick-traces/
For more information on upcoming events at Hotwalls Studios, visit https://hotwallsstudios.co.uk/events/
