Matthew Harris

11th - 13th August

£525.00

Walking the Line
Mapping a sense of place through Drawing and Thread

The project will explore the dynamic potential of line both in two and three dimensions. Working initially with a variety of drawing techniques you will be looking at ways of mapping and recording a sense of place. These drawings will then form the starting point for more three dimensional work, constructed in paper, cloth and thread.

Throughout the course you will be exploring the dynamic potential of line as a way to map and record a sense of place. Initially through drawing and then through textile construction we will be looking at ways to interpret and translate two- dimensional line into three- dimensional structure. The emphasis will be on experimentation and an open exploration of the potential of materials.

You will begin with a number of approaches to drawing and information gathering, using different media and techniques to explore the dynamics of line, mark and scale.

These drawings will then form the starting point for work in 2/3 dimensions that will look at the ways in which qualities of line and mark might be translated and interpreted using a variety of textile materials such as paper, cloth and thread. As well as working with the inherent qualities of any given material we will also be looking at ways in which those qualities might be altered or radically changed in order to enable construction in three dimensions.

Lunches and refreshments included.
Days run from 10am to 4pm (ish)

NOTE - this course will be in our Drawing Barn so as to give everyone extra space to work. The barn is waterproof, windproof, though not heated (though this shouldn’t be an issue in August!). Access to the barn is along a gravel path - if this may be an issue please do contact me (Steve) before booking.

About Matthew

Matthew Harris makes work in paper and cloth that employs painting, cutting and hand stitching. Working primarily from things seen and observed, the work in both materials seeks to explore and develop the potential of limited visual information by using physical manipulation and chance procedures. By making work that is pieced, patched and assembled, he aims to create pieces that explore repetition, pattern and the disrupted or dissonant journey of line and image across and through the surface of cloth.

“My approach to making work is one that could be seen to sit within a number of Textile traditions, though not necessarily comfortably; I prefer to think of it occupying a space in-between. Whilst I stitch, I am not an embroiderer and whilst I construct, I am not a Weaver or Tapestry maker. I stitch through in order to laminate layers of painted cloth together – perhaps they are quilted, perhaps not. The tradition that I feel most strongly connected to within Textiles is that of the abstract image- maker, a rich and deep tradition that allows for a continually evolving, vital and dynamic abstract visual language, and one that has developed throughout history and across all cultures.”

Matthew Harris has exhibited widely throughout the U.K, Europe, the United States and Japan. He has work in the Crafts Council Collection, the Whitworth Museum and Art Gallery, Shipley Museum and Art Gallery and the I.Q.M Nebraska, U.S.A, as well as numerous private collections.

In 2010 he was short listed for the first Arts Foundation Award for Textile Art and in 2009 he completed ‘Scorched’, a ten metre long Graphic Score for the new Bristol Beacon Concert Hall, Bristol.

Website: matthewharriscloth.co.uk
Instagram: @matthewharriscloth