N I C O L A H E N L E Y
Textile Artist
NICOLA HENLEY'S textile pieces are made by a combination of dying, painting, and screen-printing cotton calico and texturing the surface with various materials stitched into the cloth. The change of scale from bold printing and painting to the intimacy of close stitching helps to convey the concept of near detail with open space of a landscape or seascape.
Nicola's work is composed by studying birds and their flight in relation to the natural environment. By watching and drawing their motion she aims to capture a sense of scale and movement within space.
Each piece of work also examines our inner state, using birds to express those emotions and concepts of life both on a personal and a universal level. The work links the abstract sensations of what she feels with hints of the figurative reality in a particular place.
Nicola's latest works aim to capture the sense of spiritual liberation that we search for in direct contrast to the physical, conformist world in which we are trapped. She moved to Ireland in 1991 and now lives and works in Co.Clare.
BRIEF CV:
- Born Bristol, England
- 1981-84 First Class BA Hons Embroidery/Textiles, Goldsmiths College, London
- 1986 British Crafts Council Setting Up Grant
- 1990 British Council Travel Award to lecture in Japan
- 1998 Sasakawa Foundation Travel Award to lecture in Japan
EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE:
- 2008 Kilkenny Arts Festival, solo show, Grennan Mill, Ireland
- 2007 SOFA Chicago, Irish Arts & Crafts Council Show, Chicago, USA
- 2006 Hibernia, solo show, Florida USA
- 2004 Glor, two person show. Ennis. Co. Clare.
- 2003 Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Kenny Gallery, Galway, Ireland.
- 2001 Guinness Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
- 2000 Contemporary Applied Arts, London Primavera, Cambridge, England
- 1999 Primavera, Cambridge, England
- 1998 Cloths of Gold, Contemporary Applied Arts, London Solo show, Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan
- 1997 Solo show, HIPOTESI, Barcelona
- 1996 Solo show, Oxford Gallery , England
- 1995 Organic Surfaces, Crafts Council of Ireland, Dublin Solo show, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
- 1994 Victoria and Albert Museum, British Crafts Council
- 1993 Visions of Craft, British Crafts Council Royal Festival Hall, London
- 1992 Out of the Frame, British Crafts Council tour Solo show, Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan
- 1991 The Decorative Beast, British Crafts Council, tour The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Solo show Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan
- 1990 Solo show, Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan
- 1989 Solo show, Contemporary Applied Arts. London
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
- Cunard Cruiseline
- British Crafts Council
- Embroiderer's Guild
- The John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
- British Rail
- Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
- Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan
- Microsoft Ireland, Dublin
N I C O L A H E N L E Y
Textile Artist
Co.Clare, Ireland
Telephone: +353 (0)87 6735111