“Beyond Boundaries” by Francisca Henneman
June 24, 2022
Textile Art in The UK and Europe
As a member of SDA, I was astonished to encounter the richness and beauty of work by my fellow members included in Beyond Boundaries. The exhibition showcased a diversity of textiles—ranging from quilts to batik, shibori and weaving, mixed media and more, all on display at Galerie Zône and High Five Art.
The jurors Anne Mie Boonen (artist and lecturer at the Art Academy of Genk), Helda Klouth (co-owner of High Five Art), and Karina van Vught (EU representative and owner of Zijdelings) selected 30 artists from 10 countries.
Beyond Boundaries installation at High Five Art, 2021.
Beyond Boundaries opening night gave me the chance to meet some Dutch and European colleagues in person, as well as Dorothy Wedderburn of Galerie Zône and Karina van Vught, Helda Klouth and Huib de Wit of High Five Art gallery. It was a great, liberating and festive event! I was very interested to see how each artist looked for boundaries in their own beautiful way through the use of materials, colors, techniques and stories.
Fenella Davies, Tension Unwinds. Cotton, aint, card, net, flashing, wire, hand stitched, painting, 7.75 x 7.75 x 4.25 inches.
Inspiration in Exploring Boundaries
There were many interesting and inspiring ways that artists examined the concept of “boundaries” within this exhibition.
Jette Clover, In Other Words. Fiber art and mixed media, 37 x 37 inches.
For example, Jette Clover’s work, In other Words, is inspired by cave painting iconography which she then translates into stitched and printed works on fabric.
Monika Sebert, Spalt. Cotton, Procion MX dyes, chiffon & Lutrador, stiffened thread, free motion quilted, 60 x 25 inches.
Monika Sebert’s Spalt shows you the tension of two polarizing units—like cracks on the surface of the earth—stitched in black and white.
Pauline van Asperen, Accidental Skylines. Wool, linen, woven, 27.5 x 45.25 inches.
Pauline van Asperen tells her story in Accidental Skylines by using the repetitive, abstract elements of weaving so that it appears to be moving and is optically challenging to the eye.
Monika Haussler, Steps. Wool, natural dye, hand & machine knit, 13.75 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches.
The exploration of handmade and machine knit is fabulous to see. Monika Haussler shows this in her work Steps. I like to combine new industrial materials like rubber in combination with an old technique like crochet, to see what new forms can arise.
Making things by hand in this digital time is very important in keeping the rich values of tradition and handcraft alive. Exploiting the tactility of textiles involves combining our emotions, time, and experience, and translating all of this into the surface and forms we create in such a way as to express our own ideas. I was excited and grateful to be part of this European SDA exhibition, and I hope you will be inspired too.
Francisca Henneman, Sessila Viridi, 2019. Rubber, yarn, crochet, 6.5 x 14.5 x 7.75 inches (each). Galerie Zône.
–Francisca Henneman was born in The Netherlands in 1962. She graduated from the Academy of Arts, Fashion department, Rotterdam in 1990. Francisca makes objects and sculptures with industrial rubber waste, often using crochet to bind the rubber. francisca-henneman.eu
