One to Watch - Heather Needham

Where did you study and what is the course title?

I studied Fine Art at Loughborough University with a semester abroad studying Fibre at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Name of your lecturer – course tutor?

Loughborough’s Fine Art Department was lead by Lorraine Young and Alan Duncan, alongside a wide team of teaching faculty. Elizabeth Hawley-Lingham, my personal academic tutor, and Pauline Verbeek, KCAI’s weaving tutor, also offered amazing teaching and support during my studies.

I am incredibly grateful to be recognised by the judges of this award. As a relatively new weaver, having a panel of industry experts acknowledge my work and appreciate my love for colour is both validating and encouraging. I am very appreciative of the invaluable support and visibility that comes with the award, it means a lot to me to be able to share my love of the craft with a wider audience while also receiving advice on how I further progress my practice into the future.

Please tell us a little bit about the project that caught the judges attention.

I use hand-dyed, hand-woven textiles to explore the relationship between self and space. As I move through urban environments, I observe buildings and break down their complex structure and detail into shapes. I then translate these abstract shapes into a woven ‘repeat’ (the fundamental unit of shape that is repeated to create pattern) which forms the structure I weave on the loom.

In addition, through the process of hand-dyeing, I use colour to translate my observations into art. Working with dyes and threads, rather than paint and canvas, allows me to capture visual qualities of the everyday - such as a snapshot of the evening sky and reflections in windows - and embed them into fibre. By fusing the visuality of colour with the materiality of thread I give colour form, dimension and scale, like urban environments themselves. Therefore, through weaving, I am able to materialise my perception of the world around me, not as a two-dimensional depiction, but as a tactile reconstruction. By weaving a body of work that people can move around and observe, I re-create the experience of noticing - the same act that I engage with as I navigate places.

Using Deflected Double Weave, I create textiles with different patterns on either side to reflect how buildings have multiple distinct sides. I represent three-dimensional buildings as flat textiles because it mimics how we view buildings from the ground - not as dimensional forms but flat planes. When multiple double-sided weaves are paired together, they form a spatial environment that shifts depending on how you move through it. Therefore, like a city, my woven installation appears differently depending on the direction you walk through, the angle you view it from, or the side you encounter.

How important is colour in your work and why?

 Colour is fundamental to my weavings because it enables me to translate the world around me into a visual language - colour is the bridge between what I see in my surroundings and what the viewer sees in my work. It is also the interaction of colour and woven structure that creates the appearance of pattern. For this project, I wanted each weaving to feature the wide array of shapes that I noticed in my surroundings. However, in weaving, shape is often fixed and dictated by the set up of the loom. To overcome this, I use colour to create shapes and patterns that structure alone cannot. By hand-dyeing yarns with multiple gradients, the colours in the threads interact differently and generate new shapes. As the colours shift, the shapes morph - creating the illusion of a pattern that transforms across the weave.

What is your main source of inspiration?

 For this project my main source of inspiration was architecture. I love exploring the shared language between woven textiles and architectural design, specifically how both use the repetition of simple shapes to create complex geometric patterns. As I explore new places I try to take note of their visual nuances, from unique colour palettes to interesting motifs. From this increased sensibility to the world around me, I have noticed that pattern is everywhere - not always by design but almost inevitably. Noticing has heightened my awareness of the wonderful details in our surroundings, from the careful work of craftsmen who hand sculpted building facades to patterning on manhole covers. In short, our built world, including the mundane and the often overlooked, inspires me.

What makes you happiest/most fulfilled in your creative process?

I think there are various moments in the creative process that make me feel fulfilled. I really enjoy the process of hand-dyeing yarn. I tend not to precisely measure dye amounts, instead I work intuitively to recreate the ‘essence’ of the colours that inspire me in my environment - whether that be the glow of the sun or the vibrancy of a neon restaurant sign. As I work more intuitively, there is always an element of surprise when it comes to washing yarn. Colours pre-wash and post-wash can look very different so I love to analyse the colours that have emerged and the unexpected shades that have been created through blending. In addition, as I’m sure most weavers can relate, I really love taking the weave off the loom. The feeling when you first unravel your weave and see the pattern in full is so exciting!

Creative high point?

I struggle to select one particular high point, instead I am very grateful for a series of highs I’ve experienced over the last few years at university. Having the opportunity to study abroad at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) for a semester was a notable high. Learning to weave under the expertise of my weaving teacher, Pauline Verbeek, was a life changing experience. While I had no previous experience of weaving, I did arrive with a love of colour and shape. In my weaving class I was given technical and moral support along with creative mentorship to explore these passions through a new medium, all the while being surrounded by a cohort of incredibly creative, ambitious and hard-working students. My time at Loughborough University was also a highlight. Working in a studio environment with friends, tutors and peers who inspired, motivated and encouraged me was something I don’t take for granted and dearly miss now that I’ve graduated.

Creative low point?

I can’t pinpoint a specific low, however there have been periods of time where I’ve struggled with feelings of creative burnout, overwhelm or the general feeling of being ‘stuck’. I think these moments arise when I become too focused on the final outcome - I over-plan, overthink and essentially do anything other than make. Since weaving, however, I have encountered less of these moments because I have re-prioritised the things I love most about art: experimentation, learning, craftsmanship, colour and process. For me, weaving has encouraged me to let go of the control I held over my work, be open minded to different outcomes, and continue to create even when I’m worried or doubtful.

Where do you want to be in 3 years time.

I would love to be able to share the wonders of weaving with others. I hope to host workshops, publish my work in weaving and textiles magazines, attend residencies with other creatives and exhibit my work. If I could go back in time and tell myself three years ago that I have found my life’s passion - and that it was weaving - I think that I would be shocked. I feel incredibly lucky to have discovered something I love so deeply at this stage in my life. As such, I would love to help another person discover weaving as their passion. In the near future, I hope to access a large floor loom again, as I used at KCAI, because I have some large scale projects in mind that require a wide loom. Furthermore, I am really inspired by other makers, such as Margo Selby, so I hope one day to have the opportunity to work alongside or collaborate with others who share the love for textiles and weaving!

What is your favourite colour and why?

Recently I have been drawn to vibrant colours such as magenta, turquoise and papaya. I love these colours because they stand out from their surroundings and have a unique luminescence that catches your eye. No matter the colour, I would say its the vibrant ‘glow’ that attracts me most.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherneedham.art