Oriel Davies Gallery

9th October – 24 December 2021

Celebrating the Heritage and Diversity of Weaving

Textile artist/designer Laura Thomas curates an exhibition platforming contemporary woven design.

The exhibition features 12 artist/designers, from the very established to newly emerging. Margo Selby appears alongside Wallace Sewell, Beatrice Larkin and Eleanor Pritchard – all handweavers who work closely with British mills to interpret their hand-rendered designs into production. Other handweavers featured are: Catarina Riccabona; Maria Sigma; Llio James; Sioni Rhys; Meghan Speilman; Angie Parker; and no exhibition dedicated to blankets in Wales would be complete without Melin Tregwynt.  

Margo’s ‘Kozo’ and ‘Sakuru’ blankets, on display in Blanket Coverage, are woven in Scotland in limited runs of 40, in 100% lambswool. The large scale geometric compositions are inspired by world traditions in textile design – especially Japanese Boro and North American quilts, interpreted though Margo’s own unique sensibility. The designs were developed on the handlooms at our studio in Whitstable, and are detailed and intricate as well as bold. Margo’s principle of ‘art into industry’ – championing the craft of the handweaver alongside the skill and expertise of industrial mills – is encapsulated. Margo Selby Studio supports The Campaign For Wool, championing wool producers and specialist mills that allow us to create such exceptional products.

Blanket Coverage highlights a diversity of British practice, from the handwoven to the mill-woven, from the repeatable to the one-off, all with an impeccable eye for quality and attention to detail.  All the blankets on show demonstrate use of colour, weave structure and yarn choice resulting in thoroughly covetable and highly collectable blankets to furnish our homes, and provide some autumnal comfort.

“Its such a joy in these uncertain times to have brought this exhibition together. Blankets are perhaps the ultimate textile symbol of care, nurture and protection that we can all relate to. Despite the introduction of the duvet in the 1980s, they’ve never disappeared from our consciousness. Instead, they’ve been elevated to provide eye-catching design interest to a room. The blankets selected for this exhibition are the heirlooms of our future: a collectors dream!”

– Laura Thomas Exhibition Curator

Oriel Davies Gallery is in Newtown, rural Powys, set in a beautiful park, by the River Severn in Mid Wales. They present world-class, thought-provoking and challenging art by national and international artists in an environment that is welcoming, engaging, informative and free.