Narrative Threads, a solo exhibition of work by Ruth Singer took place at The National Centre for Craft & Design 14th November 2015 – 10th January 2016.
Narrative Threads looked at emotions, histories, stories and memories explored through textiles, ranging from my own personal and family history to the lives of Victorian criminals. My first career was in museums and I am intrigued by our reverence for objects and the power of objects both to fascinate us and to embody stories. I am also interested in exploring how we feel about textiles and how we create stories around them.
Tying in with my interest in history and museum practice, I want to explore and challenge established ideas about preserving and displaying art textiles. I see stained and damaged old fabrics as being full of stories. I play with this idea in my work, asking audiences to add their mark to cloth to build up its story and celebrate the marks of life lived.
The exhibition included new work including site-specific commissions, collaborative work and pieces created with visitors during the artist residency at NCCD. Community projects and residency activities continued throughout the exhibition. Find out more here.
Work from the exhibition includes:
I received Arts Council England funding to support my research, development, making time and a period of artist residency at The National Centre for Craft & Design in 2015.
I also collected textile memories to create into a piece for the exhibition. Find out more and contribute your story here.
Community workshops and residency background on the blog.
Ruth Singer 