Profile

Jeanette Appleton’s international recognition has developed through various projects and exhibitions since 1990. The principle technique is felt, one of the oldest form of non-woven fabric and used by Nomads for clothing and tents. She has researched historical and contemporary issues of the nomad and land, with funded exploration in Russia, Mongolia and the Caucasus.

Participating in international exchanges, as in ‘Felt Crossing Borders’ and ‘Through the Surface’, to explore cultural difference through the creative process. Leading to group exhibitions in the USA, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Georgia and Japan. The constant travelling inspires the idea of the ephemeral shifting landscape. How we perceive land as a memory of place through travel advertisements and the souvenir.

The touring solo exhibition ‘Sow: Sew’ during 2007/9 was developed from a one year residency at the University of Huddersfield with funding from the Arts Council, England. Appleton’s ongoing research exploring cloth in site and its associations with the landscape led to contacting the John Innes Institute in Norwich.  A dialogue with scientist Mike Ambrose, provided parallel relationships of cloth and land to that of historical collecting and sampling, the hand and machine sowing of plants.

Appleton was selected to participate in ‘Cloth & Memory II’ curated by Professor Lesley Millar MBE at Salts Mill a heritage site in Saltaire, Yorkshire in 2013. Responding to the history and activity of the space an installation ‘Production Line : Peoples Lives’ was placed in the bobbin recesses along the wall. Considering the absorbing properties of felt to silence the memory of noise and dust from the spinning machines.
Constantly developing and challenging the felt process by various methods of layering fibres with other materials. To discover the unexpected surprises of colour fusion and  transformation of surface and structure.