THE POETIC CLOTH

Hannah Lamb

Hannah_Lamb_In_Search_of_Green_2013_1

In Search of Green, 2013.

「沿河邊走著,地面仍被雪覆蓋,作品捕捉了對新葉的尋找,標誌著春天的蘇醒。她以布料上抽象的地圖來代表她的步履,有時候標誌著一段路徑,或是一段響亮鳥鳴的回憶。人手刺繡能縫補表面,同時也是一種繪畫的方法。」Hannah Lamb在她的In Search of Green展覽中,這樣解說自己的作品。

“Walking along the river bank with the ground still snow-covered, the work captures the search for new green leaves as a sign of awakening spring. Her walk is represented as abstract map-like marks on cloth; sometimes marking a route or the memory of sparkling birdsong. Hand-embroidery is used both to alter the surface and as a method of drawing.” Hannah Lamb described her work in her In Search of Green exhibition.

Baptism, 2014

T: Toby Crispy
H: Hannah Lamb

H: 手縫和天然染是我主要運用的技巧,而較為人熟悉的是我的氰版照相(藍曬)作品,這是一種始於維多利亞時代的古老曬相方法,藍曬可以在紙張或布料上製作出非常細緻的藍白色負片影像。起初驅使我使用氰版照相法,是因為我可以及時捕捉短暫的瞬間,將它變成布料上的永久影像,過程本身猶如魔術,而且效果更是出奇的美麗。

H: The main techniques I work with are hand stitch, natural dyeing and I am particularly known for my use of cyanotype printing (also known as blueprinting or sun printing), which is an old photographic process dating back to the Victorian era. Cyanotype can be used to create incredibly detailed negative prints in blue and white on paper and textiles. I was first drawn to using cyanotype because of the way I could capture a fleeting moment in time as a permanent shadow on cloth. The process itself seems magical and the results can be stunningly beautiful.

Baptism, 2014

H: 我也有做刺繡,通常是簡單的手縫針步,我喜歡發掘針步的多樣性,例如行針或種子針,來自由地表達一些標記和動態。在In Search of Green就用了手針來創作一些標記,就像一個地方的個人化地圖。對我來說每一針的標記都包含著很個人的意義。

H: I also work with embroidery, usually simple hand stitches. I like to explore the versatility of stitches such as running stitch or seeding and also to use them freely to express marks and movement. In a piece such as In Search of Green I was using stitch to create marks that are like a personal map of a place. Each stitch mark means something personal to me.

「對我來說,舊衣有趣的歲月痕跡和獨有的個性,比起它們真正的來歷更加重要;而那些較精細的衣物更反映了我們的回憶是可以多麼的脆弱。」

“I think the exact backstory of the garments is less important to me, than that they have some interesting age and feel like they have a personality to them. Some of the more delicate garment pieces represent how fragile our memories can be.”

Bastard Cloth, 2015

T: 你的作品交織著不同的媒體,包括建築、歷史、燈光、空間、文字、刺繡以及布藝,可以告訴我們你的意念嗎?

H: 是喔!這些絶對是我感興趣的元素,我很幸運能生活在這具有悠久紡織業歷史的地方,紡織品實在是這裡的景觀之一,布料與歷史和地方交織在一起,而且到處都是。我一直著迷於古老的磨坊建築、仍在持續的紡織製造、那些舊紀錄和檔案以及美麗的約克郡鄉村。在我的作品中,地方一直扮演著很重要的角色。

T: I found your works netting with different media like architecture, history, lighting, space, writing, stitching and cloth. Could you tell us the ideology of your creation?

H: Yes, these are all definitely qualities I am interested in. I am very lucky to live in an area with such a strong industrial heritage in textile manufacturing. Textiles are literally part of the landscape of this area and so cloth is intertwined with place and history is everywhere. I am fascinated by the old mill buildings, by the textile manufacturing that still continues in the area, the old records and archives and also the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. Place has a huge role in the work I create.

Lasting Impressions, 2016 & 2017 by Hannah Lamb & Claire Wellesley-Smith.

T: 在你的作品當中,Lasting Impressions令我印象深刻,像極一齣互動式的舞作!

H: Lasting Impressions是我和朋友Claire Wellesley-Smith(Slow Stitch的作者)為Saltaire Arts Trail(薩爾泰爾藝術之路)而創作的共同作品,在2016和2017年各花了三天創作,所以最後只是以六天完成這作品。

Saltaire Arts Trail每年都會在薩爾泰爾舉行,薩爾泰爾是位於英國西約克郡的一個已被聯合國教科文組織列為世界遺產的村莊,是於1850年代為了安置一家大型紡織廠的工人而建設的。

雖然工廠已於1980年代關閉了,現在已是一個美麗的住宅區;在Saltaire Arts Trail的週末期間,商店和附近的民居都會化身成臨時的pop-up藝廊空間,展覽來自本地或世界各地的藝術家和工匠的工藝。

T: Among your works, Lasting Impressions impressed me so much! It looks like a piece of immersive contemporary dance!

Lasting Impressions was an artwork I created in partnership with my friend Claire Wellesley-Smith (author of ‘Slow Stitch’). We created the work for the Saltaire Arts Trail during three days in 2016 and again in 2017, so in total the work took place over just six days.

The Arts Trail takes place every year in Saltaire, which is a village in West Yorkshire, England. Saltaire village is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that was designed and built in the 1850’s to accommodate the workers at a huge textile mill/factory. 

 Although the mill closed down in the 1980’s, the village is now a very beautiful residential area. During the Arts Trail weekend, businesses and homes around the village become pop-up gallery spaces, exhibiting art and craft from local and national artists and makers.

Lasting Impressions, 2016

H: 2016年我和Claire受到Saltaire Arts Trail邀請在Salts Mill裡,曾經是紡紗間的閣樓創作一件作品,Salts Mill最初建造時是世界上最大的建築,既工業化而又美麗。Lasting Impressions便企圖作為一個互動的藝術作品,來鼓勵人們思考個人和布物之間的關係。

我們邀請人們在柔軟的粘土磚上壓印他們的衣服的某部份,並填寫一個掛牌,告訴我們他們對這件衣物的喜愛原因、物料和製造的來源。看到他們注意著自己從來認為理所當然的衣服,真的很有趣。

H: For Saltaire Arts Trail in 2016, Claire and I were invited to create an artwork in the empty attic space at Salts Mill. When it was first built, Salts Mill was the biggest building in the world, and the attic (once spinning room) is a vast, industrial yet beautiful space. Lasting Impressions was intended to be an interactive artwork that encouraged people to think about their personal relationship with textiles. 

We asked people to create impressions of their clothes into soft clay tiles and also to write us a tag to tell us what they liked about the item, what it was made of and where it was made. It was really interesting to see people taking notice of the clothes they might usually take for granted.

Lasting Impressions, 2017

H: 對於2017年的第二部曲,我們希望對第一部曲作呼應。於是我們邀請人們編織收集回來的各種纖維和紗線成一個個標籤,把上一年對衣服的回應寫在標籤上,並編織在一起。人們都很興奮地把纖維與所穿衣服的故事連繫起來。

為感謝人們的參與,我們使用金線在他們的衣服上刺上十字繡作為答謝,事隔一年後人們會在街上叫停我們,很有愛地展示給我們看他們還在穿著那件繡有金線的衣服,他們都很自豪地炫耀著!

H: For the second part of Lasting Impressions in 2017, we wanted to create a response to the first piece. We gathered a vast array of different fibres and yarns and asked people to weave the tags (responses from the previous years) together. People were fascinated to make connections between the fibres and the tactile qualities of the clothes they wear. 

To say thank you for people taking part, we offered them a single special stitch in gold thread in their clothes. We loved that people would stop us in the street over a year later to show us they were still wearing the garment with a golden cross stitch in it. They were so proud to show it off.

Poetic Cloth

T: 在數碼時代,我們買少了書籍,但當打開你的書Poetic Cloth,彷彿摸到情感的紋理,確是一件很愉快的事情。

H: Poetic Cloth完全是關於物料,關於我們怎樣使用它們、它們對於我們的意義以及它們從藝術之中傳達著什麼意思。我很喜歡不同布料的觸感和它們在不同動態和處理下的表現,我很想和讀者分享以及鼓勵他們多考慮他們和布料之間的關係。

H:  紡織物是一種社會的素材,它們別具意義,也是我們可以理解的一種語言。在刺繡方面,我認為它既可以小型又便於攜帶,令它可以成為現代生活中非常重要的過程,無論是業餘嗜好還是認真的藝術作品。 任何人都可以做到。

T: In the digital age, we buy less books, but when turning over your book, Poetic Cloth, it feels like feeling the texture of sensation, which is indeed a very pleasant thing.

H: Poetic Cloth is all about materials; how we use them, what they mean to us and how they can convey meaning in art. I love the different tactile qualities of textiles and also how they behave differently with movement and manipulation. I wanted to share this with my readers and also to encourage them to consider their own personal relationship with cloth.

H: Textiles are a social material, they hold meaning but they are also a kind of language we can all understand. In terms of embroidery, I think the fact that it can be small-scale and portable, makes it a very relevant process for modern life, either as a hobby or a serious art form. ANYONE CAN DO IT.

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