Leah Davies
Interim Show, 'What is Normal?', 7ft 2"x 8ft, Mixed media patchwork tapestry, February 2022,
Expanding the tapestry was the main focus of the Interim Show. As discussed in multiple crits, the piece needed to be larger to have a presence in the studio. Looking at traditional tapestries, they are large and usually cover a wall as they are used as decorations or for story telling purposes. My piece falls into the story telling category, being similar to a diary entry about my experiences during the pandemic and a reflection about my relationships with family and friends. Having a larger tapestry would give me space to tell this story and allow it to grow with me and my experiences. To achieve this size, the focus on the Interim Show was to create larger portraits, not only did this aid the expansion but also made the piece more interesting as there are a variety of sizes. The larger portraits can draw the audience into the piece then the smaller ones aid the flow of their gaze, moving them to different sections of the tapestry.
This new section of the tapestry, also allowed me to explore more mediums within my piece. Originally, the portraits were painted with acrylic paint, printed or sewn onto fabrics. During this time, I took part in a screen-printing workshop, where I created stencils from selected portraits. These were chosen from the other images as they have solid lines that can could be cut out for a stencil while keeping the portrait similar to the image. The screen prints were an effective addition to the piece as they provided another colour element, giving the tapestry a good balance between the darker prints and embroideries to the colourful paintings and screen prints. Not all of the prints were used in the tapestry but making multiple with different coloured ink and different fabrics gave me the opportunity to select the most effective, the ones that stood out the most. The tapestry was always intended to be colourful as it represents me bringing together my own thoughts and memories into one piece, the colours and patterns highlight this patchwork and bringing together. Moreover, following my Tracey Emin influence, her brightly coloured patchwork quilts give the piece positive connotations as it is fun and inviting while dealing with serious situations. My intention is to bring positivity to all of my experiences and memories, and make a piece that embodies my relationships with my family and friends.
