The Janome Fine Art Textile Award, Festival of Quilts

I’m absolutely thrilled to share some exciting news with you….. this artwork ‘Indigo Twist’ has won the ‘Innovative Use of Materials’ award at the 2021 Janome Fine Art Textile Award at the Festival of Quilts! All the shortlisted works for both 2020 and 2021 will be on public display at The Festival of Quilts at the NEC Birmingham from 29th July – 1st August and at The Knitting & Stitching Show in London and Harrogate this autumn. Huge thanks to the award judges, and the whole team at the Festival of Quilts.⠀⠀⠀

Judge Jo Hall, writer, curator and editor, said: “Laura Thomas impressed us with her outstanding manipulation of two such disparate mediums. The tension between both these materials is beautifully handled; the thread held in perfect stasis within the resin, provoking a fresh appreciation of thread as a material and metaphor in this work.”

Below is my artwork statement accompanying the work:

‘With reference to the Three Fates in Greek mythology, the symbolism of a thread as a metaphor for life is core to ‘Indigo Twist’ and indeed all of Laura Thomas’s work. Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured it and Atropos determined where it should be cut. This poetry of yarn offers a fundamental purity of line and depth of meaning. The arrangement of threads is carefully considered then encapsulated to be made permanent to create a hypnotic visual rhythm and representation our layered, overlapping and interwoven lives. A moment in time preserved.’