Hollie Ward

Weaver | London, United Kingdom

Weaving for emotions

Hollie specialises in woven art, clothing and interior pieces
Weaving is a meditative process to her
She received funding to learn from master weavers

“I often think about how we are surrounded by fabric and how garments carry our lived experiences within them.” Weaver Hollie Ward lives and breathes her craft, dedicating her every day to weaving on one loom or the other. After school, Hollie began training with master weavers and attended an art college, completing a degree in woven cloth. Determined to find herself and a direction for her craft, Hollie went on a three-month weaving residency to Iceland, where she learnt how to harness the land, the climate and materials available to her. Rarely sampling designs, Hollie visualises her idea first and weaves pieces that awaken ideas of memory and time. “I trust my mind’s eye’s ability to visualise,” she says.

Interview

©Hollie Ward

What emotions do you want to evoke with your designs?: I want my work to encourage people to face their memories, be it colour or texture that reminds them of either good or bad. We do not always discuss emotions and I think there is a need to have open and frank discussions around a feeling or a memory.
What influences your creative process?: Responding to the place we live is central to my work. While I carried out a residency in rural Iceland, I savoured that the harsh weather dictated our living. I was able to honour the land and materials available to us by sourcing Icelandic wool and honing local ways of working.
Where do you source wool from?: My wool is always local, from the UK or wherever I am working at the time. I often use Icelandic and Shetland wool, but I also use deadstock yarn. I like to trace my materials to the source, but also to use yarns that could have gone to waste.
How would you describe the purpose behind your work?: It has always interested me how garments and objects can carry our life experiences within them. How their colours and textures can remind us of places, people or different times. I hope that my creations can transpose our living and create emotions.

Hollie Ward is a rising star: she began her career in 2016 and she started teaching in 2021