Artist's Statement
Helen Whitehead writes:
I have been surrounded by people working with textiles all my life. My mother is an excellent needlewoman and knitter, my sister studied textile design, my aunt worked in fashion retailing and my husband works for a soft furnishing fabric distributor.
Through trAce I have had the opportunity to get involved with many of the people who are, today, working most creatively on the Web and in new media. It was noticeable that a surprising number of these had come from backgrounds involving weaving or other needlework. What were the inclinations or skills that caused people to be interested in both textiles and the Web? Where were the crossovers? I put out a call on the Internet for people to answer these questions, and their answers, from all over the world, are reported here. I also interviewed people in Nottingham working in various parts of the industry, in museums, and with textiles as craft.
Once I had started looking, there were innumerable resonances, from the terminology of frames, colour, print, threads, screens, technology, computer-aided design, weaving, and more, to ways of working. For example, both areas of activity feature collaboration, international co-operation, working within the rectangle, and being limited by colour ranges and output technologies. This website is a response to the stories I have heard and the similarities I have found.
There have been setbacks, particularly in our inability to find textile companies in Nottingham to even talk to us, at a time when the textile industry was losing hundreds of jobs and factories were closing. These too have formed part of my creative response.
I would like to thank the many individuals who have contributed to the project, including those who have worked and are working in the industry as well as those who work creatively with textiles, those who look after the past at the Ruddington and Calverton museums, and those looking to the future in the Department of Fashion and Textiles at Nottingham Trent University. You know who you are!
Helen Whitehead, Nottingham, September 2001
Web ©Helen Whitehead 2001 | Web Warp & Weft | Last amended September 2001 | contact helen . whitehead @ ntu . ac . uk