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04 June 2024
It would be factually correct to say that Nicola Jarvis told us a story: that of the making of an exhibition in 2013. However, such a statement would completely fail to convey how stimulating her talk was or the fascinating and colourful exhibition pieces themselves, illustrated through an excellent slide show.
The exhibition, at William Morris House in Walthamstow, was Nicola’s prize for winning an open art competition, entries for which had to be inspired by the work of socialist and Arts & Crafts master, William Morris of Morris & Co. Her competition piece was an intriguing self-portrait comprised of a number of Morris motifs, largely taken from the natural world. The Morris emphasis on nature in art, and the use of Morris designs, continued into Nicola’s exhibition works, with the dominant note shifting from flora (such as Apple Blossom) to fauna (starting with the Robin and continuing through the pantheon of garden birds), and the inspiration shifting from Morris himself to his daughter May, herself an exceptional embroiderer. The birds themselves are clearly identifiable by silhouette and identifying marks, but the plumage of each bird is made strikingly different through the adoption of different Morris motifs and the way they were each worked.
Nicola was the designer but, drawing on the way the Morris family worked, each design was stitched by a different individual who had some autonomy in choice of technique, material and colour. The same design might also be produced more than once, using different colours, techniques and materials so that sample 1 might be stitched in wool on linen using crewelwork stitches but sample 2 in silk on silk and sample 3 on canvas using canvas work stitches. The result was a series of exquisite, detailed yet imaginative, avian portraits. We were also shown a stunning small quilt made by an Australian quilter which incorporated Nicola’s designs and versions of Morris fabrics produced in Australia.
The completed pieces were displayed as cushion covers, in Walthamstow as if in the original Morris & Co shop on Oxford Street and, finally, at the Harrogate show, in Nicola’s preferred setting of an Arts & Crafts living room (where they appeared very much ‘at home’ and true to Morris’s stricture to have nothing in your home ‘that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’). However, the exhibition did not end with its last display. Instead Nicola has not only continued to develop her own practice but also to build up her embroidery kit business, allowing others to reproduce her Morris inspired designs.
So we were treated to a display of beautiful designs and completed embroideries, encompassing many different colours, techniques and materials. Perhaps more importantly, the story of how this exhibition came to fruition, and how Nicola has continued to develop her theme, exemplified how a single idea might, as a result of detailed observation, research, imagination, co-operation, and sound technique, become an inspirational body of work.
AO
Our June 2024 gallery
