'Fabric of ours lives'

Rachel Phillimore and Ali Rhind

Ali and Rachel have worked together in projects and for public art commissions. Their latest work, ‘Sustenance’, hangs in the Newcastle City Library. This exhibition shows a broad selection of their work. Ali is known for her furniture and 3D sculptures. Rachel designs wall hangings and mixed fibre pictures which sparkle with light.

Rachel Phillimore

My new work ‘Instance’ came from ideas while painting. It follows the sweeping gestures of paint, applied quickly and with no second thoughts. My textile work is very slow, in contrast: the dyeing of the fabric and the cutting of the pieces all have to be prepared before the work on the frame and hessian. So the delight of quick statements, full of vitality, is what I want to convey in my work.  Fleeting glimpses of colour caught.

All my work is informed by what is going on around me in rural Northumberland. The pieces I have called ‘Collections’ are like views of new life, curled up fossils, the hidden, the unfurling, the suggestion of spring, the sudden flash of butterfly wings, so colourful against the dull colours of late winter or early spring.

Ali Rhind

I use the traditional techniques of hooky and proggy to allow me to ‘paint’ with fabric. I love the rich texture of woollens, which add substance to movements and shifts in colour and tone.

Using hand dyed, discarded blankets and clothing as my raw material, gives an added dimension of many personal histories absorbed into the ‘stuff ‘ of each piece.

‘Proggy’ , curving over the contours of seating and chairs allows you to fully appreciate its thick soft pile and its’ sculptural properties. Hooking is a slightly quicker process and lends itself to subtle colour changes and drawing, with the direction, that you work. I love to make and inspiration comes from daily life and all its visual joys.

Rachel Phillimore workshop

Proddy and Hooky Rug making

12th November