Jane Claire Wilson is a practice led artist who creates textile sculptures to explore themes relating to place and space. Here she tells us more about her involvement with the Loops exhibition.
After working in Education and International Development, Jane completed an Access to Art and Design Course at York College, followed by an MA in Creative Practice at Leeds Arts University. Jane is currently completing a Doctorate in Fine Art Textiles at Teesside University, researching how making textile artefacts creates a narrative of threshold spaces.
Jane is a Community Artist based at Rural Arts, Thirsk. Her role includes facilitating the children’s art club and delivering a creative aging project that provides one to one art sessions for rurally or socially isolated adults.
How did you get involved with the exhibition Loops?
I responded to the open call.
How did you find responding to the theme of loops?
The theme of loops compliments my current research focus. I am exploring how knowledge is created through embodied research; how my artwork, my body and my making process are all interlinked. The looped forms of my sculptures reflect the looping motions my body carries out during the making of the wrapped sculptures, as I wind, unwind and rewind threads.
What loops inspired your work in the exhibition?
My initial visual inspiration were the looped objects I found during a tour of the “Old Woollen” at Sunny Bank Mills and I realised how loops are an integral part of the textile making process.
I created a series of sculptures that capture the journey of the thread during the process of sewing on a domestic sewing machine. Each sculpture responds to the looping movement of the thread: as it unwinds from the bobbin; passes through the needle; stitches through the fabric; joins with thread from the lower bobbin; and finally, is cut and knotted.
The final inspirational loop was a physchological one. I created sculptures I called “In the loop” which are exhibited within the collaborative artwork in the gallery space and one sculpture called “Out of the Loop” which is standing alone in the Old Dye House. I created this sculpture to visualise our individual experiences of the collaborative process. A significant aspect of the collaboration is the fact we are based in two different countries and therefore we are isolated from each other physically. Even within each country we are working alone in our own studios and at times have felt out of the loop.
What is special to you about the exhibition Loops?
The opportunity to meet and work with new artists and create new loops of connections that will continue beyond the project.
Have you ever worked collaboratively as an artist before? What have been the challenges and joys this time, or for the first time?
This is the first time I have worked on a collaborative project with artists I had never met before. It is very different from a group exhibition because we wanted the final work to reflect the whole process; with the exhibition reflecting the range of collaborations that occurred. I think the exchange of materials and ideas between artists was the most successful aspect of the collaboration for me because I created artwork I would not have otherwise considered.
What has been your experience of creating art at Sunny Bank Mills?
It has been an amazing experience creating at Sunny Bank Mills. We have been been made to feel extremely welcome and integrated into the team. I love the working atmosphere at the Mills. It is so inclusive, for example all team members eating lunch together everyday. Anna and her team have gone above and beyond to ensure the success of the collaboration week.
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