FABRIC AND THREAD
FABRIC AND THREADBy Matt Mortimer
Artists of all types are often asked about their favourite instruments to make their creations. Music artists will have an instrument of choice that gets that certain sound, a painter may have a brush or easel they love and others, like textile artist Mary Sneyd – well, they reach for something different entirely. And her choice is…? “My sewing machine, because my work has many layers and it is impossible to sew by hand!”
This sets Mary apart from many who call themselves an artist, much like the clear difference between her occupation when she is not sitting behind her sewing machine. “I still work as a doctor/scientist three days a week and do textile art for three days a week or sometimes four – if I can get away with it! – so although I’d like to be one, I’m not a career artist.”
This point of difference is not lost on Mary either, although there are similarities. “Textile art is completely different from my other job. Both require problem solving but I have to think about them and approach them in totally different ways. But being able to analyse medical information and explain what is happening, or manipulate fabric and thread and tell a story is always very satisfying, I’m pleased to say.”
Mary’s start in the world of turning thread and fabric into something beautiful was not typical – and again, somewhat unorthodox. “I was a professional musician for many years and retired from that when my Dad got very sick. I have done small amounts of sewing over the years and was looking for another hobby (that I could drop at a moment’s notice) to replace my music. In 2014 I discovered Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) online and was blown away by their artwork. My father survived and in 2015 turned 80. As a special gift I decided to make his portrait in grey scale fabric. It took 6 months to work out how to do it but I was delighted with the result! I haven’t looked back since.”
Her creative process is similar to some artists’ approach with paint in either working from pictures or other inspired topics. However, she has the added challenge of portraying these on a whole other level with fabric to tell her story. “Usually I start with a challenge/competition theme and I mull over ideas for ages. This challenging stimulus makes me think outside the square. I spend ages looking at family photos and see if anything grabs me and think about how I want to portray my story. I then convert the photo (or photos) to grey scale, using different percentages of grey for different parts of the body. I separate the grey scale picture into the number of colour values I want and draw out a pattern. I choose fabrics depending on the colours and number of values I want. Then each piece is cut out individually from the appropriate fabric and temporarily stuck to a base fabric. When the collage is all stuck down I sew each piece down permanently by machine. Then I cut out the figure, make a fabric background to suit my story and sew it all together. Some I quilt and some I don’t – it just depends.”
Mary describes textile art as in its infancy here in Aotearoa, and that it is also not even regarded as ‘real art’ in some quarters. The very best response to this is the product of her labours. Not just from the admiration of looking at her works on these pages, but on the breadth of locations they’ve been shown at – and awards received! “I am very lucky to have been juried into several international exhibitions in Canada, New York, Houston and Australia as well as some international touring exhibitions. My art quilt ‘Colorblind’ made the front page of the Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas in 2018 and is still touring in the USA. ‘Me and My Sisters’ won a juror’s award in an art exhibition in Rochester, New York.”
Mary has sold works in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, China and the USA. Fabric type and use is obviously key to creating her works, so her favourite mediums are what you would expect. “Textiles, textiles and textiles. Fabric and thread. Mostly I use high quality woven cottons and batiks (because they fray less) but I also use upholstery samples and woollens and tulle and chiffon.”
Makes sense. No surprises here – however…“I also use recycled clothing and my husband’s shirts; when he is not looking! And I’ve been known to search though my wardrobe looking for just the right fabric colour or texture. It just depends on the effect I want to create.” The sky is the limit for what Mary can strive for and achieve in the future if her works to date are anything to go by. “In the future I want to be doing the same but be better at it. I’d love to be an artist full-time but unfortunately I still need to eat, so this is not possible right now! I also want to develop a looser and more impressionistic style, not to replace my predominant realistic style, but just as another way of working.”
In the meantime she can enjoy the journey to developing this style with three works she currently has on her radar. “I have a fabric collage portrait of my great grandmother in grey scale, based on a photo taken by my mother, following family nagging me to make more grey-scale portraits – I gave in! Another is a commission for a wedding present for an ex-pat Kiwi. I’m thread painting a New Zealand seabird from a photo taken by my brother-in-law. The third was unfortunately postponed during lockdown. I’m preparing a teaching sample for a textile art class in Christchurch. It was supposed to be held in April this year but has been postponed.”
If these projects don’t help develop her skills and desire for her new style musings, no doubt she can call on support from the associations she is a member of, Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), Otago Art Society, and lastly, one of which she is president, Gondwana Textile Artists, and Quilters and Patch-workers of Otago.
