Rebecca Hampson Textiles

The process of making and creating space for the unexpected

Practice

My practice begins with hand stitch and a curiosity about what happens beyond the visible surface of fabric. In the past, I have often started with a particular theme or idea as a way into making. Recently, however, I have begun to work in a different way. Using the circle as an area in which to work, I allow the work to develop through the process of making, usually without a preconceived outcome.

I have become increasingly drawn to the relationship between the front and reverse of my stitched work. Paying attention to the unexpected marks that emerge between and behind my intended stitches has begun to influence the direction of my work.

These less controlled traces, found on the reverse, have become an increasingly important part of my visual language. I bring them together with the more structured patterns created on the surface of the fabric. Through photography, sublimation printing, screen printing, layered textiles and mixed media, I bring these normally unseen details into view, allowing marks, images and materials to overlap and interact.

Through this process, new patterns and relationships emerge between what has been deliberately made and what has occurred through making.

With a background in Textile Design, art education and Therapeutic Arts, my practice is grounded in close observation, material exploration and a curiosity about what can be discovered through the process of making.