The Small Details Collection - Textile Pieces by Rachel Anderson

This is a new collection by me, small in both physical size and subject matter. 

Focusing in on the things we see but don’t always notice, this collection is inspired in part by the venue, the beautiful Maister House. 
Each piece either depicts something small, or shows a scene in which there are small details to be observed. 
The longer you look, the more joy I hope you will find. 

The venue is a National Trust property, this version of it built after a fire in 1743. 
Halfway up the grand stone staircase sits a sculpture of the goddess Ceres, though she currently resides behind bars for safety. 
I found her particularly interesting as a figure, so you’ll see her three times in this collection, released from her staircase prison. 

The collection has been constructed in my signature style, freehand machine embroidery on digitally printed cotton, or plain calico. 
As always, I create line drawings on paper before going over to the machine. That way, I can see it’s captured what I intended, using just a few lines in the right places to get the essence of the image. 

The marbled fabric in the hangings and in Spindles is a new design, made in my usual way of marbling onto paper before editing digitally to create a mirror repeat. 
In this venue, we can draw parallels from the marbling in the work to the marble in the buildings ornate fireplaces.

Each piece is mounted on a handmade wooden frame, carefully upholstered with the work by myself. 
The textile hangings were born out of a desire to create a small series that announced itself as textile work, without verging into the realm of ‘craft’ (though I do believe craft has a valid presence amongst art’. 
For this reason, I cut wooden dowels that were exactly the width of the work, with small eyelets attached, and opted for gold wire, rather than string. 
The gold perfectly compliments the warm tones of the pink marbling.

I’ve been able to embrace my own perspective in this collection, not worrying too much about how exactly true to life an image is. 
Having the work side by side to the reality in the venue has allowed me to witness and embrace this human perspective.