Aimee Spilsted United Kingdom
Returning after a ten year sabbatical raising my two young daughters, I work in textiles, wood and ceramics - creating retrospective pieces which resonate with the threads that hold us together, the buoys that keep us afloat, objects and people that keep us grounded, the baggage that we carry, and the voids within our hearts we attempt to fill with other things.
I am fascinated with historical textiles, the make do and mend culture, and the deep connections we have with our materials.
Collections, cataloguing and conservation work at the Silk Museum and Paradise Mill in Macclesfield guide the direction of my work. The mills' silk heritage and iconic Jacquard looms in their original setting, in particular the loom artefacts, stone weights, and spools of thread, the accumulated history is tangible.
Salvaged and vintage fabrics and wood are key for ecological reasons and to achieve ambiguous tactile qualities. Pieces are deconstructed layered and reassembled and bound together using venerable methods of stitch, mending and repair. The original colouration of fabrics are retained, alongside earth and plant dyes, natural chalk paint, and wax. Rust tubes, salt sprays and burnt wood techniques are used to develop texture and patternation. Clay is hand built, and press-cast and kiln fired with glazes that mimic distressed textures and worn out colours.
