Between Stitches
24.06.-20.08.2023
Academic Design Centre
ul. Księży Młyn 13/15, Łódź, first floor
Between stitches we find the traces of time, the threads that connect fabric to our bodies and the scars left by industrialisation and the global transport of materials. It is an emotional response to the deconstruction of industrially produced textiles, a force of living matter in constant change and the characteristic tension of our time.
The exhibition Between Stitches at the Academic Design Centre problematises the delicate and often tactile relationship between our bodies, textiles and the spaces in which we move. The presentation is a reflection on the intimate relationship between the history of place, environment and people. In Lodz, a city with a rich textile history, we are confronted with memories and visible traces of industrialisation, political relations and material culture.
The participants in the exhibition – textile and interior design students – starting from found textile material and waste mainly, in their works focused on three-dimensional textures. The creative process was also inspired by observed phenomena – the ecological threat or the unethical actions of the fast fashion industry in relation to the employment of workers.
The exhibition presents the work of seven textile and interior design students from the Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź: Ewa Dmowska, Gabriela Krok, Grzegorz Picz, Inka Fischer, Karolina Chyc, Weronika Cudna and Jagna Pastusiak.
The works were created under the direction of Tina Marais, a visual artist working in the field of textile art, as part of the so-called Master Classes coordinated by Dr. Dominika Krogulska-Czekalska. The courses were held within the framework of the Integrated Programme of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź POWR.03.05.00-00-Z012/18 project.
Tina Marais – born in 1977 in Cape Town, South Africa. Lives in Montréal and Quebec. She exhibits nationally and internationally, both in solo presentations and group exhibitions. In 2020, she was invited to a solo presentation at the Bien Biennial in Slovenia. She received, among others, an honourable mention at the 2018 WTA Biennale in Uruguay, the Dora and Avi Morrow Scholarship for Excellence in Visual Arts from Concordia University in 2019 and the Joyce Melville Memorial Scholarship in 2021.
