A massive, six-by-two-metre textile tapestry map of the world is now installed in the departure area of Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2. It’s called “Botanical Tapestry,” and it’s the work of Portuguese textile artist Vanessa Barragão. It took her 520 hours to make, using different techniques like latch hook, crochet and felt needle to achieve different textures; it also took 42 kg of recycled wool, plus another 8 kg of cotton and jute. [Geography Realm, My Modern Met]
Pakistani clothing company Generation has put out a textile map of Pakistan showing the embroidery techniques of each region. Earlier this year, Craftsvilla did something similar with its fabric tour of India. [My Modern Met]
Natasha Pairaudeau: “Imagine maps as big as bedsheets, and then imagine the sheets big enough for beds made wide enough to sleep extended families. Only such a double stretch of the imagination can provide the scale of the three Burmese maps in the University Library’s collection, which have recently been made available online in digital format.” [Cartophilia]
An exhibition opening this week at the Jane Lombard Gallery in Manhattan features, among others, the work of Christine Gedeon, an artist who “uses a sewing machine, fabric and paint on raw canvas to create improvisational stitched ‘plots’ that toe the line between abstraction and landscape. Examining issues of the urban environment, cartography, and urban planning, Gedeon investigates how humans interact with each other and our built environment to form relationships, narratives, and identities.” Examples of Gedeon’s stitched work can be found at her website.
Haud Oan is Scottish artist Jane Hunter’s response to the EU referendum results. It’s a textile map of the results, with threads leading off to Europe from pro-EU Scotland; the English threads have been cut.
Previously: Jane Hunter’s Textile Maps.
Jane Hunter is a Scottish artist who makes maps from textiles. Contour lines and patterns evincing geological maps are prevalent in her work. Her pieces, as she puts it, “combine free motion embroidery and appliqué with materials of thread and Harris Tweed. The delicately balanced mix of colour and shades in the cloth, taken directly from nature and flecked through the wool, provides me the perfect palette to represent the land.” Giclée prints of the original pieces are available. [via]
