Pauline Hann
Long Tall Silly Artist's statementGiven my paternal and maternal ancestry of portrait painter, graphic designer, aerial photographer, milliner, dressmaker and teacher, it is perhaps unsurprising that whilst being a committed teacher, I have also chosen to work as an artist whose means of expression is conveyed through textiles and stitch. Some of my most recent work has reflected a difficult period in my life and has focussed on family and personal loss. I began a series of textile vessels using these as a potent device to symbolise the storing of precious memories. As such, I incorporated fragments of my Mum's old 'lazy daisy' embroidery into the textile surface. I love the idea of fabrics having memories from the past, including memories of who made them and the time, place and cultural context in which they were made. In 2003, I took early retirement after 30 years lecturing at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee. Not wishing completely to hang up my mortar-board, I was very fortunate to get a part-time job teaching Art and Design at Glenalmond College, one of Scotland's leading Independent Schools. With my Head of Department, it has been a real joy to introduce Textiles into the syllabus and see how much confidence, pleasure and sense of achievement it can offer our pupils. It is impossible not to be affected by the pupils' enthusiasm and more recently, as well as all aspects of textiles, including stitch and screen-printing, I have been making hand-made felt hats, bags and scarves with them, with the consequent influence on my own work. At the moment, I am just having fun making textiles! |
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