WRAPS

BARBARA PRITCHARD

14 June to 10 July 2016 Opening: Saturday 18 June, 2–4pm

WRAPS brings together Barbara’s fascination with the exquisite organic feel of natural textiles and her love for eco printing with leaves, seeds and berries.

Specialising in eco printing techniques for her Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts at Albury TAFE in 2015 Barbara has extended the aesthetic of Shibui (timeless beauty) to this collection of hand felted garments.

These works reflect my love for textiles and the search for the poetry in everyday nature bringing a feeling of connection to the spirit of the land on which we live while combining and applying it to our personal body wrapping.

Contemporary and traditional felting, printing and dyeing techniques were used to transfer eco prints from nature onto varied weights of felted silk fabric. I am inspired by the Japanese aesthetic of shibusa which honours simplicity, textures, economy of form and timeless tranquility.

The rugged constructions remind us of our environment and the prints made from Australian vegetation convey a sense of random wildness yet gentle order, subtlety and quiet beauty of the Australian bushland.

Barbara Pritchard lives in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains where she has continued her arts practice over 30 years. Her artwork and textiles are in State and private collections throughout Australia, Europe and the USA.