Darren Ball Textile Artist
Exhibiting with Design-Nation
in The Rooms on the first floor at Shoreditch Town Hall
15-17 May 2024
Being well (2023) £4,000
Made with hand-knitted Shetland wool and found fabrics. Appliqued and machine embroidered using a domestic sewing machine onto a vintage silk handkerchief and embellished with beads and sequins.
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In this piece I have considered possible sources of well-being. I particularly enjoy exploring the materiality of textiles. A repurposed vintage floral silk handkerchief forms the canvas for the piece and its floral design creates the composition, enveloping the figure in richness.
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Bespoke frame and art glass. H50cm x W50cm
Cultivation (2023) £3,500
Made with hand-knitted Shetland wool and found fabrics. Appliqued and machine embroidered using a domestic sewing machine onto a vintage handkerchief and embellished with beads and sequins.
An image from the September 1947 issue of Stitchcraft magazine forms the starting point for this piece. It is embroidered onto a vintage handkerchief which is edged with images of garden borders representing gardens of the 1940’s. Pieces of found embroidery from the period add actual examples of domestic stitch.
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Bespoke frame and art glass. H46cm x W46cm
Jul/Aug 1948 (2023) £3,500
Appliqued and machine embroidered using a domestic sewing machine onto a vintage handkerchief and embellished with beads and sequins.
Tonal study of a woman on a repurposed Apenzell handkerchief with a beautiful crisp decorative edge. It is embellished with subtlety to reflect the beauty and craftsmanship of the handkerchief, the beads mirroring the stitches used. The figure is taken from a 1948 Stitchcraft magazine.
Bespoke frame and art glass. H47cm x W47cm
Endeavour (2024) £4,500
Made with hand-knitted Shetland wool and found fabrics. Appliqued and machine embroidered using a domestic sewing machine onto patchwork and embellished with beads and sequins.
Endeavour was made in response to one of the first pieces that I created in 2015. It is updated to record the progression in my work up to this point.
I have used the same image from Stitchcraft Aug-Sept 1946 but it is on a more ambitious scale and includes a hand-knitted element which refers back further to my degree in fashion/textiles. The patchwork background was inspired by a visit to the Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter. There I saw a beautiful nineteenth century ‘Grandma's Garden Quilt’ in velvet and silk.
My patchwork is made from silks which I have had digitally printed over the years using images from work which I’ve previously made. The quilting reflects this passing of time. I have added an embroidery of a nasturtium transfer from the 1930’s. Endeavour celebrates my own making and the domestic making, knit, hand embroidery and patchwork of the 30’s and 40’s.
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Bespoke frame and art glass. H56cm x W52cm
