Castle Hill Tapestry (2006)

The Castle Hill tapestry was commissioned by the Textile Centre of Excellence, Huddersfield to be displayed in the reception. It is a 40cm x 40cm woven piece, with extruding 3D sections.

Inspiration came from standing on Castle Hill for the first time on Bonfire Night and looking down on the lights of Huddersfield. From this point you can see the whole of the town surrounded by the Yorkshire countryside. It is a very special place at any time of day but at night the contours of the land are emphasized by the lights and I was keen to incorporate this spectacular and magical view into my work.

I dyed the colours of yarn myself for the woven tapestries to recreate the contrast between the depth of the darkness and the bright lights of the landscape at night. I used a mixture of wire with yarn. I included wire because it gives the work an extra dimension and it emphasizes the theme of light. I also used wire within the warp to create movement within the piece and this enabled me to work away from traditional techniques by having sections of the tapestry raised. The use of wire results in a rigid piece which can be hung independently. I used various different weave techniques to create a more textural piece to represent the shapes of the landscape.

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