My Weaving Body, My Body of Weaving by Jessica Babbini-Baker

Jessica Babbini-Baker explores location and capturing time through fibre art whilst reflecting on her heritage. These tapestries or ‘case studies’, allow her to observe and work presently in response to local sites from the perspective of the self. Weaving serves as a way to bridge the language barrier between her family by using a visible one made of fibres they can both understand.

Lived experiences curate the way in which her work is made, picking up ideas later represented through colour which flow in and out of other experiences and thoughts. The concept that yarn holds ideas, each thread holding a separate thought, becomes symbolic of the way our lives are shaped by events and many small moments.

This practice blends boundaries between self and environment, reflecting on the pressures in which we are formed. Working through composition with painting, strata and self-portraiture manifest themselves as tapestries twisted and knotted intuitively to represent the layering of land. It is a collaboration between maker and material, the agency of the medium slowly taking over.

The Hidden Wardrobe exhibition is an another avenue for recent RIPE graduates and Arches residents to continue their professional development; through a small-scale window exhibition, lasting approximately six weeks. The exhibition gives artists free rein to curate a solo exhibition: using it as a site to display a new body of work. Artists will develop a proposal and receive curatorial support throughout, as well as technical support from the ‘a space’ team.