SPOTLIGHT: Wendy Moyer

Sculpture is one of the art world's oldest and best used forms, allowing artists to bring their inspiration away from the wall and into a multi-dimensional, touchable, textured and altogether more realistic piece. This can be achieved using any number of materials, from clay to paper mache and chicken wire. However, textiles is one medium that seems unimaginable to sculpt and work with in such a way.

That was until an elongated Google browse happened upon Wendy Moyer. STITCH is constantly looking for textiles artists, simply just to admire their work, but something about Moyer's 3D material sculptures caught the eye more than the usual barrage of embroidery and knitting. Aside from the obvious (clothes), I suppose I had never quite entertained the idea that you could mould the edges of scraps of fabric in order to create something stiff that didn't hang or lie flat.

Moyer uses heat to melt mainly synthetic fibers into her sculptures - a technique she found purely by chance whilst singing the edge of a piece of fabric to prevent it from fraying. She realised that if you held the flame on a little longer, synthetic fabric became really mouldable. Moyer now uses this method (often coupled with use of wire and hand stitching) to create a variety of fabric sculptures, focusing predominantly on natural elements and flowers.

"Fire as used with fabrics, particularly synthetics, is a bit like alchemy changing a once soft material - whose natural inclination was to fold and drape - into a rigid material that will hold its fold or drape forever."

(from interview with textileartist.org)

"Flor de pasion"

The talented textile sculptress collects fabric scraps from up-cycled, unwanted or shop "seconds" clothing to create her masterpieces. Moyer will search through local "mercados" in Mexico to find textiles to use for her projects, often originating from well-known brands like Calvin Klein and Banana Republic.

This is just one aspect of Moyer's work that is so interesting - she expertly gives old, unwanted and otherwise unloved clothes an entirely new lease of life. Thus the previously unwanted items can be admired every day on the walls or coffee table of someone's house, rather than in an old wardrobe or market stall gathering dust.

"Flor de la noche"

The unique approach she has taken to the marriage of textiles and art is completely awe-inspiring. Sculpture has been given a modern twist, and her beautiful flowers are breathtaking even through photograph - one can only imagine how they would look in real life with 3D design and fascinating textures.

Upon creating STITCH, the primary aim was to explore the unique relationship between art, fashion, and textiles. Since then we have veered into the more abstract - the pieces that challenge conventional values about what art should look like. Just like Anya Hindmarch's bag, Moyer's creations do just this: bringing an every day object (flowers) and translating it into a work of art by use of inspirational craftmanship. The pieces have a real story - from the upcycled clothes used to make them to the revolutionary melting technique.

Wendy Moyer, you can sit proudly as one of STITCH's favourite artists chanced upon in our journey so far. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Moyer's website here