Chenderit School's Heseltine Gallery kicks off a busy year with textile exhibition

Artists L-R Annabel Goodwin, Stella Benford, Charlotte Relf, Linda Westerman, Lis Mann, Abigail Bury and Bev James. Courtesy Geoff Carverhill

The exhibition, which opened on Sunday with a meet and greet, brings together seven artists for the first of an busy programme of exhibitions for the Heseltine Gallery at Chenderit School.

Focusing on traditional and contemporary textile methods Tactile Fusion showcases works from artists who use a range of mixed media.

Exhibitors include Abigail Bury who uses hand processes to create fabric designs for interiors; Charlotte Relf, a recent graduate from Birmingham City University, who has an interest in embroidery and constructed textiles and Linda Westerman whose work reflects her interest in history and archaeology and is interpreted through hand stitched embroidery and mixed media.

Bev James and her Green Man Waistcoat (Courtesy Geoff Carverhill)

Katie Boyce, project manager, said: “As a community hub the gallery has been asking visitors for feedback and inviting them to contribute to future exhibition ideas. Textiles and sculpture were among the most popular media alongside Photography, which will follow in the Spring.

"We are really excited to bring the community something that they have asked for to start the New Year off.”

Other artists involved include Lis Mann, who produces work that has an autobiographical nature, influenced by her own life experiences while Bev James takes an interest in eco printing and felt making, creating a variety of handmade scarves.

Stella Benford, who uses a diverse range of materials including ceramics and metalwork to produce sculptural structures, is paired with Annabel Goodwin, also a ceramicist who has a love for the human form, nature and organic structures.

Tactile Fusion is free to enter and will run between 10am and 4pm weekdays and between 11am and 3pm weekends until February 12.