Summer Exhibition at RA: Textiles and 3D

715 Eileen Hogan

 Working  with cloth and stitch myself, I'm always interested to see  what textile pieces are chosen  for the RA  Summer Exhibition. There's  always a lot of chattering on yahoo groups about how few there are  but in the end, regardless of what media , it has to work as art - if that means framing  or mounting on canvas  so be it.  I had to include  Eileen Hogan's wonderful oil painting 'self-portrait through wardrobe '  as it sparked all kind of ideas  related  to 'travellers blanket' I've just started. I think I'd have to do a painting of my earring collection ( which is not small....)

126 El Anatsiu

Another wonderful  varied piece by El Anatsui, it was great to get up really close  to examine the different materials used

466 Bridget Bernadette  Karn

Although not really  my taste, this felted picture fitted in well with the 'landscape' theme of the gallery and the texture of the wool  made it far more interesting and atmospheric than  if it had been a painting. Fascinating video here of how she does it. She also posted several pictures on Facebook asking which she should submit  and had a very good response ( I voted myself , but not for this piece)

855 Jacques Lawrence Calver

I really liked this piece by Jacques Lawrence Calver, you can really see the influence of 'Boro' in his work.

668 Miranda Argyle

It's good to see work by Miranda Argyle included again. Always thought -provoking , this piece 'inside out' is based on MRI scan of the brain with the underside showing ( read more about  it here)
I 'm a big fan of the 'unconscious side' of stitched  work

846 Susie Koren

 I wasn't a big fan of Susie Koren's prize winning quilt ' Gravitational Force' last year  at FoQ -  the stitching and mark-making was rather lost on such a  huge piece.  But the two framed  pieces  here worked  much better, stitching as a form of drawing, they looked like fragments of old maps or manuscripts.

1014 Susie Koren

1216 Joe Tilson

In Gallery X  devoted to photography , the large tapestry 'Look'   certainly drew your attention.

1078 Eva Rothschild

This year I found the mix of  sculptural work in the lecture Room overcrowded, overwhelming, I didn't spend very long  in there. 2 pieces close to each other were this  wool  embossed blanket set in resin ( the quilt police definitely wouldn't like that but I liked the enhancement of the texture and intensity of the blue/black colour)

1072 Brian Griffiths

I was intrigued by these dyed kitbags and  investigating further online, found they were part of  what seems a fascinating, poignant , site specific installation recording the history and stories of an old boxing club.

308 Lindsey Archer

I normally only give a cursory look at the gallery devoted to architecture  ( something about all those straight lines ....) but 2 pieces caught my eye. I loved the quirkiness of these little structures made of paper, card , aluminium by Lindsey Archer. It's interesting  to contrast the arrangement in  what I assume was the submission photo ( top) with the more organic layout in the gallery itself.

333 Julie Massie

This is the piece I would have wanted to take home with me -  I've never seen porcelain used in this way, the  qualities of  of the edges spoke to me, especially when I found Julie Massies website with  further work inspired by the fragility of coastlines.