My career centres on embroidery and textiles, both practical and academic and my core skills were developed over twenty years as a costumier for theatre and film. Over the last twenty years I have built expertise in two further areas: development work and fine art embroidery. I have extensive experience of rural and refugee development projects for women, particularly in the area of handicrafts and costume in Nepal, Tibet, Myanmar, Turkey and India. For the last ten years I have been designing and developing toys, dolls and other handicrafts for a Tibetan income generation project in China. I have worked on Wellcome Trust funded art projects on art and health with women in the slums of Mumbai and in rural Mexico. My work in the region is the inspiration for my embroidered textile pieces, which draw on issues of iconography, identity, gender and Asian art.
Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, UK
Awards
Finalist in the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize
Cinefest Oz: Cinewest Best Short Film - Peregrinations of a Citizen Botanist
People’s choice favourite film: Makers’ Film Festival 2021-Peregrinations of a Citizen Botanist
WAFTA Professional Textile Prize
Christine Risley Award, Goldsmiths, University of London
Lipslink
Selvedge Magazine Illustrate Your Point
Selvedge Magazine Drawing Award
Exhibitions
Ararat Gallery TAMA (Textile Art Museum Australia)
Influence - Lost Eden Gallery, Dwellingup
Twenty Five Plus - Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth
Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize - Sydney
The Curious Five go Surfing - Indian Ocean Craft Triennial
Peregrinations of a Citizen Botanist - Art on the Move tour of Western Australia
Peregrinations of a Citizen Botanist - Mundaring Arts Centre, Western Australia
Flora - Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales
Another View - Royal Birmingham Society of Arts, Birmingham
Machines and Makers - Mundaring Arts Centre, Western Australia
The Wit of the Stitch - Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales
The Needle’s Eye: Contemporary Embroidery -The National Museum, Oslo, Norway
The Needle’s Eye: Contemporary Embroidery - Kode Art Museum, Bergen, Norway
Lines of Communication - Hoxton Arches, London
Liminal - Mall Galleries, London
Prism: Textile Inspired Art - Whitstable Museum & Gallery, Whitstable
Everyday Encounters - William Morris Museum & Gallery, London
Hidden Places, Hidden Spaces - Mall Galleries, London
Everydeities: Divinity, Mundanity and Embroidery -Bombay Electric, Mumbai
At Home: Conversations about Art and Health - Dharavi, Mumbai
East-West Art Award Competition - La Galleria, Pall Mall, London
Magnet Open Art Project - Concord, New Hampshire, USA
Rarities: An Exhibition of Miniature Magnetic Art - Hastings and St Leonards
Up Close, In Detail - Mall Galleries, London
Designer Crafts at the Mall - The Society of Designer Craftsmen, Mall Galleries, London
Puppets and Automata - One Church St Gallery, Great Missenden
Inspired by Morris - William Morris Gallery, London
Doing the Needful - Knitting & Stitching shows, London, Dublin, Harrogate
Doing the Needful - The Constance Howard Research Centre, Goldsmiths, University of London
Evoke: Evolve: Expand - Mall Galleries, London
On the Melancholy of Tailors - The Constance Howard Research Centre, Goldsmiths, University of London
Designer Crafts at the Mall - The Society of Designer Craftsmen, Mall Galleries, London
Threads through Life - Hotspot, Galleriet på Designtorget, Vasagatan 20, Västerås, Sweden
Graduate showcase - Knitting & Stitching show, London
Headline: A Sense of the Moment - Mall Galleries, London
Prism - Mall Galleries, London
Work
Mentor Artist - Arts and health project, rural Mexico
Mentor Artist - Dharavi Biennale, Mumbai, India. Provoke/Protect, Embroidery Workshop in response to rape in India, Mapping the Hurt, Embroidery and quilting workshop mapping domestic violence.
Trainer - Masterclass in Costume, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia
Costume design in collaboration with Mumbai-based performance artist Jyoti Dogra
Mentor Artist - Dekha/Andekha art project. Mumbai, India. Art workshops with women in slums.
Lipslink
Handicraft consultant – Lhasa, Tibet, Shangri La, Yunnan Province, Yangon, Myanmar, Turkey and Gaza
Lipslink
Freelance Textile Artist and Costumier, Mumbai and London
Costume design in collaboration with Mumbai-based performance artist Jyoti Dogra
Costume design, Industrial Theatre Company, Mumbai
Costume design in collaboration with Mumbai-based artist Tejal Shah
Freelance Costumier, London
Technical advisor to women’s handicraft projects, Nepal
Design, technique and marketing for women’s empowerment projects, Nepal
Trainer in traditional Tibetan tailoring, Tibetan refugee camp, Kathmandu,
Freelance Costumier, London, Australia
Head tailor for Disney production Beauty and the Beast
Freelance Costumier, London
Costumier, Royal National Theatre, London
Costumier, English National Opera, London
Costumier, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Upon Avon, London
Costumier, West Australian Theatre Company, Perth
Memberships
Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen
Lipslink