About MEI am a textile and assemblage artist, whose work is about the meaning and memory attached to objects.
I enjoy and am influenced by the bold and the colourful in many forms. Folk art, tribal art, vintage fabrics and embroidery, kitsch graphics on old packaging, comics, cartoons, religious icons and shrines and anything decorative, patterned or embellished. I collect plastic toys, kachina and kokeshi dolls, vintage postcards and greeting cards, old magazines and books,vintage textiles and paper ephemera of all kinds. I incorporate many of these items into my work but my collection of vintage china, fabrics, books and kitsch ornaments has outgrown the available space, so I also sell vintage items at fairs and on Etsy, using the name 'Kitsch and Curious'. |
Biography |
I learnt to crochet when I was 10, when we made granny squares at school, and have always loved it. Sewing has always been there, as my mum used to make clothes for me, and I learnt from her. Her approach was that she would have a go at anything, whether it was dyeing clothes, rug-making, oil-painting or wallpaper-hanging. That may account for my mixed media approach to what I do.
I completed a BA in Graphic Design at the Bath Academy of Art in the 1980s, specialising in illustration. But that did not lead to any sort of career, and so I've worked at office jobs, been a jewellery-maker, ran a comedy club (briefly), worked at another office job, became a web designer, worked in IT, and then since about 2008, I've been finding my way in textile and assemblage art. For personal reasons, there has been an inadvertant break for a couple of years but in 2016, I am embarking on new work again. |
EXhibitions |
May 2011 - Tokens& Totems at Here and Now Gallery, Falmouth
Sep 2010 - The Smith and Jones Museum of Folk Art at Room 212, Bristol Dec 2009 - Art Presence, Centrespace Gallery, Bristol Oct 2009 - West Bristol Art Trail - Group Show at the Hope Centre Sep 2009 - Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe, Weston Super Mare Oct 2008 - West Bristol Art Trail - Group Show at the Hope Centre |