A new book by Ruth Singer
Over the last decade or so, I’ve created hundreds of textile pieces for four solo exhibitions and several other projects. I’ve got lots of wonderful photographs of this work and I have written about some of these pieces many times. Some have been seen a lot, others have been seen very little. I’ve wanted to gather my work together, to see how the pieces sit alongside each other. I wanted to create new groups and connections between pieces I’ve made several years apart. I wanted to pull together the strands of care and connection that I have been exploring for many years. Above all, I wanted to share this work with more people, as connection with others is so vital for my work – I make this work to express how I feel and in the hope that others will see their own thoughts and experiences reflected. I’ve had really powerful and meaningful comments and conversations with people who have seen my work, and I wanted to create a place, a book, where those connections can continue to grow. I want people who appreciate my work to be able to spend time with it, to read my words and to properly understand my motivations, my inspirations, my story.
Writing Tangled has allowed me to do so much. It’s been a slow process; the original idea was to create a catalogue for my Textile Traces exhibition in 2019, but making the work and creating the exhibition took priority. Then in 2020, lockdown enabled me to start writing. That was of course six years ago, and in that time, other projects with deadlines and payments have had to come first, but I am at last able to get this book out into the world – bigger and definitely better than my original 2020 plan. In the end it has worked out perfectly as a celebration of 21 years of professional practice, this summer 2026.
The book is over 150 pages with over 100 pieces of my work. It’s full of wonderful images of course, but also 18,000 words of my own about my work, my creative life and my inspiration. I’ve written about my background in and passion for museums & heritage, I’ve written about how important textile history is to my creative voice, I’ve written about making work on themes of family, emotions, care and sense of place.
The book is currently being designed and printed and will be available in mid-August. Pre-orders are open now. Ordering now for delivery in August is incredibly helpful to me to cover some of the enormous print costs and risk of doing this myself. I know that many of you will want to support me with this and I thank you hugely in advance for making this possible.
Gallery of (some) work in the book
