Capturing the beauty of nature
- Nicola brings her textile pieces to life from drawings
- Her work is inspired by wild environments
- Birds are her constant muse
Standing in front of one of Nicola Henley’s textiles is like gazing into a vast landscape. She transports the viewer into the wilderness of her skies and seascapes, through layers of fabric and thread. She mixes intricate details with large-scale colour and texture, creating worlds of expansive energy and emotion, which capture the imagination. Nicola combines the techniques of textile printing and embroidery, joining these crafts in artistic harmony. She has been honing her skills for over thirty years, and has exhibited her work across the world. Her pieces can be found in the collections of the British Crafts Council and the Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto.
INTERVIEW
All my ideas come from sketching outside in nature, not from photography books. How they develop into actual art pieces requires my design head and imagination in the studio; using the flexibility and subtlety of the fabric to translate the drawings into large textile works.
Yes, the scale of the work reflects the scale of the environments which inspire it: seascapes, sky and landscapes. I also work in close detail, carefully using stitches which are appropriate to the delicate nature of birds whose movement through space inform my work.
Embroidery has a rich history. It informs my stitches, which I use selectively to add highlights, tension and detail into my work. Whilst screen-printing serves the commercial textile industry for repeat pattern, I combine it with hand painting to create unique artworks.
Every part is hand created, each image is drawn or painted before being transferred to the screen-printing process. There are no short cuts, every printed layer of images has to be steam ironed, washed, dried and then over printed or painted.
2 EXPERIENCES
