Tailored

HUB, Sleaford

Following a successful run at Sunny Bank Mill, West Yorkshire in 2023, The 62 Group have been invited to tour the Tailored exhibition to the Hub, Sleaford. Tailored is a touring exhibition from Sunny Bank Mill with the 62 Group of Textile Artists. The exhibition opens March 30th and runs to July 7th 2024.

Originally conceived by Sunny Bank Mill Creative Director, Jane Kay, the theme for the exhibition was inspired by the Mill’s heritage of fine cloth manufacturing;

“The cloth produced at Sunny Bank Mill was most commonly used for suits and although they were not produced there, Leeds is well known as the birthplace of that great suit produ-cer and supplier, Marks & Spencer.” Jane Kay Creative Director, Sunny Bank Mill.

Several artists take their lead from the fundamentals of the tailoring process; pattern making, cutting, tacking and construction. For other artists, specialist stitches themselves, tailor tacking, padding stitches, etc., once isolated from garment construction, become a new language of mark or construction. Wool and other suiting materials also feature strongly in the selected works, but often constructed or configured in unexpected ways.

Whilst making and material-led responses figure strongly, so do more graphic and narrat-ive approaches. Highly personal, compelling and thought provoking themes lie behind many of the works in the show. The life of cloth and clothing, as well as its connection through time and place demonstrates the unique roll of textiles in our lives. Clothing as a second skin becomes a metaphor for the body and also provides a vehicle to explore identity and self image. 2024 marks 62 years of the 62 Group, which was founded in 1962 with the aims of ‘championing the role of textiles in art’. The group will be celebrating their 62nd birthday year with two exhibitions as well as activities and educational events, which will be announced later in the year.