Inverness Museum and Art Gallery looks at quilting art
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Lost Threads and Severed Ties showcases work by textiles artist Mark Lomax.
Inverness Museum and Art Gallery is looking forward to welcoming artist Mark Lomax to this city centre location on Saturday.
The artist will be in the city to talk about his exhibition, Lost Threads and Severed Ties, which is currently on show in the venue's Main Art Gallery.
High Life Highland’s Cathy Shankland, the museum’s exhibition officer, said: “The quilt has a rich history that crosses many social and cultural boundaries.
"For some it is the means of expressing very personal themes and ideas. For others it is the chance to follow in a rich social tradition that sees groups of people and communities coming together in fruitful collaboration.
“For Mark Lomax the quilt is both. The significance of the quilt in its role as a social activity, its means of construction and its global significance is important.
"It is a clearly identifiable object with a strong history, multiple associations and its own symbols and language. The quilt is the perfect vehicle for exploring Lomax’s interests in memory, personal and social identity, history and culture.”
Mr Lomax creates his quilts from materials more commonly used in the building trade. Cement, filler, wood, wire and metal sheeting are combined with paint and recycled textiles to produce the rich surfaces and intricate textures that make up his finished pieces.
He said: “It was while researching memory failure in Alzheimer’s and dementia sufferers that I started to look at common processing, retrieval issues and memory triggers.
“After working through a series of possible categories I focussed on memories based on domestic situations and everyday life. This involved the use of objects that we most associate with the home and family living. Included in this category are furniture, ceramics, tableware and, more importantly, textiles.
“The colours and patterns used in curtains, soft furnishings, rugs, carpets, quilts and clothing are common to all of us. By utilising familiar elements that are associated with domestic objects it is possible to trigger or evoke memories. Like the readymade, the quilt with its appropriated past and repurposed materials, has a built-in history by association.”
Mr Lomax, originally from Felixstowe, is a mixed media artist based in the Highlands.
Having started out as a ceramicist, his trademark style of filler and paint on metal shares many of the techniques and characteristics associated with textiles and fibre art. His quilts and rug-based pieces are stitched together using wire and much of his work is influenced by the patterns and designs found in knitting, weaving and printed textiles from around the world.
Cathy Shankland and the Inverness Museum team are inviting visitors to drop in and meet the artist throughout Saturday afternoon. There is no charge but donations are welcome.
Lost Threads and Severed Ties runs until April 15 in Inverness before moving to the Thurso Gallery, Caithness from May 6 to July 1.
