THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM

My current exhibition of carpets for the wall and mixed media pictures is called “The Forbidden Kingdom”. All the work has been inspired by Nepalese culture and landscape. I have travelled to Nepal for many years trekking in the high Himalayas and exploring old cultural sites.

The exhibition is my creative response to my experiences and Nepalese visits. The work starts with figurative pieces which are slowly abstracted, with elements of decorative pattern and flowers being introduced. This work leads the way to the final section, which is totally decorative or abstract. This later work has been influenced by the strange mix so often observed in Nepal of the sophisticated being juxtaposed with the naive. Into this heady mix I have introduced my own western creative style and ideas. The mixture of religious cultures and architectural styles experienced in Nepal are not only fascinating, but visually stimulating and sometimes disturbing. Alien elements are often introduced in to traditional themes and used together, producing exciting sometimes disturbing, but always interesting, visual effects.

The wool used in the carpets is grown in Tibet and carried by mule train over the Himalayas into the Kathmandu valley where it is sorted and hand spun dyed and woven. All the designs are worked in London, as are the graphs from which the weavers work. One graph can take two weeks to work out, it is at this stage that drawing of the design is finalised. A high level of combined weaving skills and creative design skills is needed if the best results are to be achieved. Any mistakes at this stage can rarely be corrected once the carpet is being woven.  Having trained as a weaver I am technically skilled, which has enabled me to introduce new techniques to the native weavers and some of these are evident in the show. Different pile levels of the knotting as against the flat weaving has been introduced to enhance the textural surfaces.

The colour used is inspired by the landscape seen particularly in the high Himalayas and the Mustang region, ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’. The colours are ever changing in tone and shades influenced by the season and weather at different times of the year. A particular influence has been the experience of seeing hillsides in the lower Himalayas full of flowers and the famous Rhododendron forests. The imperial cities, particularly Buhkturpur have also worked their magic. Places where life seems to have stood still for centuries. At certain times of the year in this best preserved of the Imperial cities, the streets are used to dry the harvest. The most spectacular being when the red chillies are spread all over the roads with just a small pathway left to allow people to walk through. The streets look as thought they have been covered in a carpet worked in every shade of red and orange and ever changing tones, as the sun moves its position in the sky. The way colour is used in Nepal ranges from subtle shading, as experienced in the landscapes, to clashing primary colours seen in the temple hangings and the women’s national costume.

All the designs have been inspired by some aspect of the experiences I have had in Nepal. As the work developed many elements of stylisation and abstraction have been introduced. This has led to colour combinations not normally associated with my work. All the exhibits have been designed and graphed in my London studio, then taken to Kathmandu and talked through with the weavers. Each design is discussed in great detail, so the weavers know exactly what I am aiming to achieve and to ensure the interpretation will be correct. The development of designs and technique is an on going process and is challenging for all concerned. This exhibition is the compilation of designs first photographed, drawn or painted, then reinterpreted in woven carpets and mixed media pictures. The exhibition is hung to show the progressive development of ideas, as well as the order in which these were created. It is hoped that this will enable the visitor to see my creative development (of ideas), as well as the theme of the show.

The Forbidden Kingdom exhibition started in September 2008 at the Knitting and Stitching show and will travel to different galleries between 2008 and 2012. For details of where the exhibition can be see please look on the 'What's On' page