DEBORAH MANSON
My work begins with colour. I grow and forage seasonal plants to extract colour and to dye cloth. I’ve learned a lot about the art of natural dyeing from experimentation and from knowledgeable teachers and friends but there is always more to learn. Working with the natural palettes plants produce has become a central source of inspiration and these palettes form the beginnings of my textile works.
I’ve cultivated a dye garden rich in plants for wildlife which is an extension of my studio and my practice. Making and investigating colour as a material has become an important theme in my work, alongside foraging, plant folklore, and dye recipes. So before making a textile work there is a lot of other creative activity such as garden planning and researching, sowing seeds, tending plants or walking in the local countryside to collect materials.
Inside the studio I play with the materials, cutting, tearing placing, pinning and repositioning them until a composition emerges. Drawing and collage are also an important part of my practice and feed into my textile work.
I love the process of hand stitching, the way the hand creates movement and irregular line in a way that machine stitching can’t. I hand stitch fabrics together to form patchworks and appliqués, sometimes this is improvised and other times I make paper patterns depending on the feeling I want. I’m inspired by the Japanese philosophy of Wabi- Sabi with its deep acceptance of the imperfect and the impermanent.
“I use plants such as madder, indigo and weld, they hold such wonderful gifts, histories and magic! Many common plants can be used for dyeing such as the nettle which is another favorite of mine. I’ve learned such a lot about the plants that grow around me and their stories. By growing and using these plants and processing colour from them I feel a deeper connection to the cycles of nature and to the past.”
I gather fabrics from friends, neighbours, charity shops and markets, repurposing vintage or previously used cloth such as clothes and bedding. These materials hold stories of previous lives and give the work another layer of meaning. I use natural fibres: linen, cotton, silk and wool which will eventually break down and return back to earth.
I am interested in exploring the cross overs between art, craft and the domestic in my work. In western art history quilt making and textiles have been dismissed as lowly in comparison to the ‘fine arts’, but in other cultures such as Japan these hierarchies don’t exist so much. A kimono, a useful clay pot or textile hanging are revered and celebrated as art, and the people who make them as artists, blurring the boundaries between art and life. This way of thinking and living are very inspiring to me. I make work on a domestic scale such as hangings and quilts and also larger scale pieces which reference domestic textile objects such as curtains. These pieces are intended to blur the boundaries between art, craft and life and bring spirit, meaning and joy to a home or equally to take up space in a gallery setting.
Deborah lives and works in East Sussex. She studied Visual Communication at Central St Martins and in 2016 she gained her MA in Textiles from Chelsea college of art. She exhibits her work in museums and galleries and in 2021 she had her first solo show ‘Everything comes around – textile and paper works’ at Meiklejohn Gallery, Lewes.
More recently she co-curated a group show ‘The Mud at our feet’ at Gallery 19a, Brighton with Julie Annis and Holly Dawes. She teaches Art and Design at various colleges and universities and runs workshops and courses for people of all ages and abilities.
