Welcome to the Transition and Influence Web Gallery

In 2007, during a national series of seminars, I asked the question “Where in the UK would a collector, or a museum or gallery curator, or a journalist or a student go to find contemporary textile artists?” There are listings of artists, designers and craftspeople which might contain textile artists, and there are a few galleries and museums who might include a contemporary textile exhibition in their programme. However, apart from various practitioner-run Group websites, there is no dedicated source for contemporary textile practice in the UK. So the answer to my original question has been to create this Web Gallery.

Since 1995 I have been working in the field of exhibition curation, concentrating on contemporary textile practitioners. I have been working for the most part in the UK and Japan, but more recently have begun to explore Scandinavia and Northern Europe. My particular areas of interest have been in textiles as intervention in the built environment, contemporary textiles that have emerged from a strong traditional practice, and those that reflect a particular culture. The practitioners featured in this Web Gallery have all worked with me at some point and reflect these three categories and geographical regions. As such they present a very particular focus and resource.

The Web Gallery is not static, the images for those included will be updated, new artists will be added from new projects and in the future I will invite applications for selection from those whose work fits the categories.

There is a special section regularly highlighting ‘the one to watch’ which features exciting new talent.

Hope you enjoy the work in this Web Gallery, perhaps add a piece to your collection, exhibit the work in your museum or gallery, write about a particular artist or simply find out more. Every artist has included a statement and a CV and contact details. My role is to bring the work to your attention – the rest is up to you.

Lesley Millar
Professor of Textile Culture
Director, Anglo Japanese Textile Research Centre
University for the Creative Arts