Robyn McGrath

 

I am a textile artist who feels strongly connected to the Australian landscape and natural world. Having spent almost all of my life living in various country areas of Queensland and New South Wales, there are so many memories of special landscapes, colours and textures of the natural environment embedded in my mind and soul.

I draw upon these for my artworks and call on my my lifelong love of textiles and fibres and the opportunities offered by them to convey meaning and embed environmental and spiritual messages in my work.

My choice to employ textiles and fibres as the basis of my art practice has come from decades of engagement with cloth, fibre and thread, beginning with lessons in “fancy work” with my grandmother at a very young age, through garment making, soft furnishings, quilts, knitting and crochet, embroideries and anything else that needed a stitch. The fact that textiles can be changed by manipulation, heat, dye, discharge paint, print and embellishment, attracts me as it allows my work to evolve throughout the making.

Because I love the challenge of experimentation and change, it is my preference, to work in a style that suits the exploration of a particular idea or theme. While these ideas are well researched before I begin, utilising a specific choice of materials and techniques that suit my intent for each work allows a freshness in my approach to the making and the opening up possibilities. However, there are elements that constantly appear in my work; first and foremost colour and textures developed through manipulation, machine and hand stitching; dyeing, marbling and printing of fabric.