Handicraft Heaven

 

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Last Thursday evening embroidery and leather appliqué descended on the unlikely location of the Trafalgar Hotel, slap bang in the centre of London. Amongst a few perplexed faces those in the know knew that the latest Laura Lees exhibition had landed – entitled ‘Western Day of the Dead.’

 

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Laura Lees, for those of you unfamiliar, is an embroiderer that many a designer calls upon when in need of some stitch work surgery. Previous projects include one-off designs for the likes of Luella Bartley, Fee Doran, Giles Deacon and Noki. Not forgetting to mention the odd guitar strap or two for The Strokes and record sleeve creations for Lemon Jelly. Lees is also known as the ‘graffiti embroiderer,’ her witty motifs can be found on anything from soft furnishings to wall hangings and although she works on a variety of fashion projects she prefers to see herself as an embroidery & textile artist.

 

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For ‘Western Day of the Dead’ Lees tapped into a heady mix of American-Mexicana, an amalgam of appliquéd skulls, tooled leather panels, handcrafted accessories and a rather spectacular life-size horse, embellished from mane to hoof. For the show Lees hooked up with fellow handiworker Sally Turner and super stylist Namalee Bolle, from Sleaze Nation and SuperBlow fame.

 

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The exhibition continues at the Trafalgar until the 26^th August so those of a curious nature can check out Lees very latest needle craft offerings. There’s upholstered chairs, tooled leather panels, triptych wall hangings and tassels galore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

{mosimage}Elsewhere, getting crafty has suddenly rocketed up in the popularity stakes. You only have to visit the Stitch n Bitch website http://www.stitchnbitch.co.uk/ to find a group in your local area. From Borders Café in Islington to knit friendly cinema screenings south of the river, there are handicraft meetings happening all over the country.

 

 

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The revival has not gone unnoticed and The City Gallery in Leicester has put on a show highlighting the work of 15 international artists who are pushing knitting forward. Entitled ‘Knit 2 Together’ exhibits range from a knitted domestic interior by Janet Morton to subversive toys, giant cobwebs and the highly technical digital imagery of Kelly Jenkins. Guerrilla knitting is now cropping up in the most unexpected of places and Knit 2 Together aims to display the contemporary appeal of this traditional craft.

 

 

Info and links:

 

Knit 2 Together – Concepts in Knitting at The City Gallery, 90 Granby Street, Leicester LE1 1DJ until 10^th September 2005.

 

Laura Lees – “Western Day of The Dead” – an exhibition of embroidery and leather appliqué featuring “Tooled” by Sally Turner at the Trafalgar Hotel, 2 Spring Gardens, Trafalgar Square, SW1 until 26^th August 2005.

 

http://knitting.meetup.com

 

http://www.stitchnbitch.co.uk

 

Knitflicks at the Ritzy Cinema, Brixton – on the 3rd Saturday of every month, lights are kept up so there’s no fear of dropping stitches. www.knitchicks.co.uk

 

 

By JoJo Iles