Keywords: chiffon, karen nicol, united kingdom, cotton, east molesey, surrey, taffeta, wall skirt

Black Forest

Karen Nicol

Dimensions

80 x 213 mm

Materials

Wall skirt: machine-embroidered lace using chiffon, cotton and taffeta

Artist statement

‘Creating lace one can create a web of intrigue and beauty out of thin air, totally unique and innovative.

I am an embroidery and mixed media designer in the high-end fashion and interiors market so need to be incredibly diverse in my work. To mix my interest in fashion for gallery work I started to make ‘wall skirts’, lace constructions which fit the body but can also hang as wall pieces.

My self-set criterion was to use only materials from flea markets so each one would have a character impossible to recreate elsewhere. I have magpie collections of haberdashery and yarns, buttons and beads sourced from markets all over the world. I try to make these unusual materials push my embroidery into new ways of working, allowing me to be technically and aesthetically inspired by the qualities of the materials.’