Tapestry and Textile Art

Six-week Tapestry and Textile Art Study Programmes

Applying for these programmes?

Link to more information on our application process

Link to downloadable application and referees forms

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Tutor

Pat Taylor exhibits internationally and recently showed new work at Collect 2008, V&A, London.Her work hangs in institutions such as the Palace of Westminster and GreatOrmond Street Hospital in London and ChicagoUniversity in the USA.Pat joined West Dean College in 1988 and has been a visiting lecturer at The Royal College of Art, an external examiner at the University of Middlesex and a course advisor at Winchester College of Art. Pat is a member of the Index of Selected Makers with the British Crafts Council. Pat Taylor is Programme Tutor across all of the College's Visual Arts programmes including Painting & Drawing, Sculpture and Tapestry & Textile Art.

Programme structure and tutors

Integrating technique, visual research design and contextual studies, at West Dean College you will develop advanced skills in making as you study historical and contemporary work.

The first six weeks of the autumn term will introduce you to four key textile media taught by leading practitioners in these fields: Tapestry Weaving, Stitch, Print and Felt. The Materials and Techniques unit will form the basis for exploration of the creative possibilities of textiles and to track a way forward for innovative individual work.

Tapestry Weaving: The introduction to tapestry weaving through practical workshops and related contextual study is taught by Pat Taylor.

Pat Taylor exhibits internationally and recently showed new work at Collect 2008, V&A, London. Her work hangs in institutions such as The Palace of Westminster and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and Chicago University in the USA. Pat joined West Dean College in 1988 and has been a visiting lecturer at The Royal College of Art, an external examiner at Middlesex College of Art and a course advisor at Winchester College of Art. Pat is the programme tutor across all Visual Arts programmes at West Dean.

Print: Paper stencils, monoprinting, photo stencils and print on fabric will be covered in this introductory unit taught by Carole Waller.

Carole Waller is an internationally renowned textile artist. She makes painted clothes, and paintings on veils of cloth which become installations in three- dimensional space. Carole's work is concerned with sense of place and our relationship with our surroundings and context. She works with a variety of media and has been exhibiting her painted clothing along with the paintings and installations in galleries internationally for the past fifteen years.

Stitch: Using a variety of materials – threads, cords, sticks and wire – you will develop the essential components for the exploration of stitch, depth, translucency, illusion and structure, taught by Michael Brennand-Wood.

Michael Brennand-Wood, visual artist, curator, lecturer and arts consultant, is internationally regarded as one of the most innovative and inspiring artists working in textiles. Examples of Michael’s work can be seen in major public, corporate and private collections worldwide including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. He won the Creative Concept Award in 1987 and the Fine Art Award in 1989 at the International Textile Competition in Kyoto, followed by the first RSA Art for Architecture Award in 1990.

Felt: The use of felt in contemporary contexts provides the basis for work in this introductory unit. Making solid balls, tubes and seamless structures will be all be taught by Heather Belcher.

Heather Belcher studied textiles at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is a member of the Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery in London and a member of the 62 Group of textile artists. She shows her work regularly throughout the UK and internationally. She is on the Crafts Council of Great Britain Selected Index of Makers and has work in the Crafts Council Collection.

Throughout the remainder of the year, a combination of taught units in contextual studies, drawing and professional practice will be offered alongside technical instruction and the time and space for creative individual work.

You are encouraged to work together with students across the all diploma programmes at West Dean. Life drawing classes and seminars are attended together with students from Painting & Drawing and Sculpture.

The Graduate Diploma in Visual Arts is a University of Sussex interdisciplinary one year programme which provides a route into postgraduate study. You can choose to specialise in Painting and Drawing, Sculpture or Tapestry and Textile Art. The programme is designed for students whose practice is not ready to sustain postgraduate study but whose potential to work at that level is evident. Students on all Visual Arts programmes work together in an atelier culture.

The first six weeks of the autumn term will introduce you to four key textile media taught by leading practitioners in these fields. The Materials and Techniques unit will form the basis for exploration of the creative possibilities of textiles and tracks a way forward for innovative individual work. Throughout the remainder of the year, a combination of taught units in contextual studies, drawing and professional practice will be offered alongside technical instruction and the time and space for imaginative individual work.

Following successful completion of a Postgraduate Diploma you can, through additional taught units and an individual project, extend your studies to a calendar year to gain an MA in Visual Arts.Those who wish to sustain a focus upon their specialist studio practice can progress to a Masters in Fine Art (MFA) for a further full academic year.

All Visual Arts students have access to over 700 short courses run by the College throughout the year.

The West Dean Tapestry Studio was established in 1974 in response to the demand for high level craft based programmes in woven tapestry, and has become one of only a very small number of such studios worldwide. It accepts both public and private commission on a large and small scale, from hospitals and cathedrals to private individuals including architects and interior designers. Tapestries woven by the studio hang in the Palace of Westminster, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Chelmsford Cathedral. As well as working on new designs, the West Dean Tapestry Studio is also currently working on recreating the 16th century ‘Hunt the Unicorn’ tapestries as part of a twelve year project for Historic Scotland, for the refurbishment of Stirling Castle. All students will have the opportunity to observe client-led projects at close hand and to have a dialogue with our professional weavers.

ENQUIRIES
Telephone: +44 (0)1243 818208 or 811301
Email: diplomas@westdean.org.uk

Student profile

Thomas Cronenberg, Tapestry Weaver. Studied Postgraduate Diploma in Tapestry Weaving

Fascinated by textiles since a child, I realised I needed to do something about a long-held wish to learn how to weave tapestry “properly”. I had regularly read about West Dean so it seemed a natural starting point. I was interested in tapestry-as-art, and the West Dean course offered a solid grounding in the art and the craft side. The College’s short courses and modules provided me with my initial entry-point and I attended a seven-week module, where I found myself simultaneously learning tapestry technique and being introduced to as yet unknown-to-me realms of contemporary art. But I was hooked, and decided to return to study on the full-time programmes. The combination of the practical and the intellectual makes the West Dean programme so attractive. Having your own studio space with access from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. including weekends was another big draw. Only when I returned to Hamburg did I realise how valuable all that weaving time was: I had learned to “see” in weaving terms. I have now set up my studio in Hamburg and exhibit extensively in Europe and North America.