Meet The Maker: Matthew Harris

When did you first become interested in textiles?

I’m not sure that I could say exactly when I became interested in Textiles. What I can remember is being very excited by the process of dyeing and the potential of colour in cloth on my Foundation course at Hereford.

Where did you study and was this experience a pivotal part of your creative journey?

I studied Textiles at Goldsmiths College. It was hugely important to the way in which I began to think about working and making work. It was a course that allowed students to develop completely individually over three years and I was fortunate enough to be taught by a number of very well respected artists and designers.

What are your main sources of inspiration?

I wouldn’t say that I have any main sources of inspiration. My intention is to always be open to the potential of any visual information to become the starting point for work. There are often recurring themes in the work and ways of thinking about process that underpin many of the ideas. Ultimately I am inspired by the potential of abstract imagery to evoke curiosity and emotion in the viewer

Do you work with sketch books?

Yes , I do work in sketch books. I tend not to use them for planning or plotting out but purely
as a way of gathering visual information that can act as a starting point for work.

What materials do you particularly like working with?

I made a conscious decision when I started to make textiles again that I would keep things very simple. I tend to use just one type of cloth which is a rough cotton and I paint on with cold Proceon Dye.

Where do you work? Do you have a studio or a particular place where you work?

I work from a studio in the garden at my home in Stroud.

How do you see your work developing?

Who knows! I hope the imagery is always developing as I see and experience new things. I would like to find ways in which to take the work out into the world more by doing design work and perhaps more commissions.

Has your work changed and evolved recently and if so in what way?

A recent commission for Colston Hall in Bristol, made me think about working in a new way by forcing me to translate my ideas using different materials. This process was interesting and has made me think about how work might be extended and developed from one off gallery pieces. I have also recently started to play with the potential of very small- scale pieces of work that in combination can create a large image.

Is there particular artists’ work you enjoy and admire?

There are many people whose work I look at and admire. On the whole I look at the work of painters as opposed to Textile artists but I am also interested in design and in particular music and the ideas composers have about structure and composition. If I had to name one person it would be the painter Prunella Clough, whose abstract paintings, often derived from mundane and everyday objects, always convey a sense of endless visual possibilities.

What plans do you have for exhibitions and work in the coming year?

I currently have work at the Waterside Art Gallery in Sale, Manchester as part of the Men of Cloth Show. I also have work in Taking Time, Craft and the Slow Revolution a touring show that is at various venues in the U.K until 2011. My next big show will be in February 2011 at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. This will be a joint show with the Mosaic Artist, Cleo Mussi.

Your web address
www.matthewharriscloth.co.uk

inside matthew's studio, stroud