Ealish Wilson: Manipulated Techniques

Today's speaker was Ealish Wilson, member of The 62 Group of textile artists, who talked about her incredible sculptural textile art.  Ealish's work is inspired by travel, fashion, nature and particularly architecture.  She loves photography and incorporates her images into pieces through digital prints, often in pattern repeat and then pleats and smocks her fabric designs to create interesting forms.

  

Ealish's early work just after her MA in Textiles at Galashiels, starts on an exchange to Japan where she lived and was mentored by an artist for one year.  Time spent here was extremely influential on developing Ealish's practise taking on their rich colours, culture and the juxtaposition of old and new.  She remarks that makers are very revered in Japan.  The Prada Building in Tokyo built by a team of Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron was a starting point of inspiration.  The building has concave and convex windows creating interesting shapes, shadow and form.  This inspired her 'Kimono' pieces which are pleated, smocked and stitched using 'mizuhiki' string which is rolled washi tape.  Ealish created geometrical patterns within the fabric replicating the architectural structure and this work is now situated in Nottingham Castle Museum's contemporary textile collection (see above).

  

Ealish also lived in California for a time which gave her new architecture and materials to explore.  A building in San Fransisco also designed by architects Herzgog and de Meuron, was another spring board for new pieces in digital printed textile work.  Other fascinating pieces included the use of dip dyed zip ties to create sculptural forms and block printed work on felt (see above).  

 

A few years down the line and Ealish begins experimenting using water colour painting to create shape and line for her digital prints on fabric.  Now her work shows a strong three dimensional and scuptural style with bubble pleating (above).  Her latest work work, featured in the recent Tailored exhibition at Sunny Bank Mills  and The Salts Mill Galleries in Yorkshire are very striking and take on long, narrow, draped and smocked forms using paper bubble wrap, vintage ribbons and use of mizuhiki ties and vintage tassel ties create movement and fragility.  One piece was ten metres long and incorporated and incredible 5000 stitches! (See below).

  

Ealish's talk was very interactive and touchy-feely as she passed around her sample work for us to hold making it all the more enjoyable. It was really fantastic to see the work of such a talented artist so close up and appreciate the process and inspiration behind it.  Her art really is very distinct, complex and beautiful and it was a wonderful and fascinating talk.  Thank you Ealish!

For more information about Ealish, please visit https://ealishwilson.com/