Inspiration from Rachel Gornall

I've been missing out on a treat for months now - I just found out that the library at work has been subscribing to Embroidery magazine!

It's packed full of colourful features on contemporary and traditional textiles, book reviews and a guide to what's on. I spent a whole lunchtime flicking through all the back issues - my favourite one was May-June 2011 where I found a fantastic article about the artist Rachel Gornall. 

I was instantly drawn to her work, particularly because of the precision, colour and layers. As I read through the article I found out that she uses two layers of hand dyed cotton organdie fused together, and was surprised to find that she cut all the shapes by hand using a combination of a scalpel and compass cutter.

Light is very important to Rachel's work - the cut outs, suspended shapes and stitched sections on the different layers create shadows and an interaction between the layers and give the pieces movement and depth. The colour explores the rhythms and patterns of nature, and changes in light and colour. She draws her inspiration from her local river in London, the shorelines of Britain and her travels across Central and South America.

 

Rachel also mentions the difficulties with photographing the work - because of the translucency the flash goes through the fabric and bounces back. After spending hours and hours photographing my own work I can really sympathise! I particularly love the close up photographs which show the layers through the translucent fabric. It forces you to see the work in a whole new way and I love the new shapes and tones that occur as a result.

Rachel Gornall has work showing in Objects of Desire 2011, 19th Nov 2011 - 14th Jan 2012 at the Chapel Gallery, West Lancs. I hope I get time to go and see it. 

Thanks Rachel Gornall and Embroidery magazine - I am inspired!