The News Headlines: forthcoming events for 2008

Many good things are happening for me at present. Please let me share them with you.

I will be exhibiting work at Collect. This is a highly prestigious event as it is the only International Applied Art Fair in Europe. It consists of 45 galleries from around the world and is being held at the V & A Museum, London, 25th-29th January, 2008. I am showing Jacquetta Dott, a 100% silk Kilted Skirt made from organzas, taffeta, haboti and lax silk. Over 7 meters of fabric make up the pleats, all hand dyed, hand and machine embroidered surface, and hand finished. Literally, 100s of hours of work was involved in its creation! As well as exhibiting at the V & A, I will be giving a short lecture there on my work as part of the Craft Scotland lecture series on Sunday afternoon, the 27th of January.

My Biocon commission is going well. Biocon is a major Biotech company based in Bangalore, India. I have now created ‘Synergy’ for the company. This is a wall hanging 150 cm (height) x 245 cm (length). It is 100% hand dyed and the colours chosen are the corporate colours of Biocon. The piece was created in my Slash and Show embroidery technique and is in a double helix design. My relationship with Biocon is ongoing as the company has kindly asked me to come to India in February 2008 to work on a range of corporate gifts inspired by the wall hanging.

There are two pieces of my work in The Cutting Edge Exhibition, a traveling exhibition of Scotland’s contemporary crafts. ’Power’ is a wall hanging and ‘Desiree’ is a piece from my latest ‘Art to Wear’ collection. The show has been touring Scotland since January 2007. It opened at the National Museums in Scotland and went on to the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock and the Museum of Modern Art in Glasgow. The Scottish leg of the tour will complete at Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, 9th February - 29th April, 2008. The Cutting Edge Exhibition is sponsored by funding from the National Lottery, the National Museums of Scotland, The Scottish Arts Council, Aberdeen City Council, East Ayrshire Council, and Glasgow City Council.

I have been invited by Valt, makers of very superior vodka distilled in Scotland, to create a bespoke ‘Art to Wear’ outfit in corporate colours. The outfit consists of a silk embroidered kilt; leather Slash and Show waistcoat, and a hat. It’s a really sexy little number and I am very proud of it. It was commissioned for promotional purposes and I hope it will serve this purpose well as it is (if I say so myself) truly eye-catching.

Publisher Kraken Opus has commissioned me to create a wall hanging inspired by Glasgow Celtic Football Club for the Celtic Opus book. This is a unique edition limited to 5,000 copies. Each book weights an amazing 45 kilogrammes and costs £3,000. My piece will feature prominently in a double page spread.

I have been awarded the commission to create ‘The Regiments Piece’ a wall hanging to commemorate the amalgamation of the Scottish regiments. The title of the work is ‘Espirit du Corps.’ The hanging has been created from the most fragile silk organza. The organza was then pleated together to give strength and solidity to this transparent and delicate fabric. The pleats are reminiscent of the kilt, an item of clothing long associated with Scottish regiments. The work is hand dyed in colours that symbolize the regions of our planet as the army is called to serve all over the world. I am honoured to have been given a commission that allows me to express my own, and hopefully our nation’s, admiration for our army and have given this piece a great deal of thought. A single human being, no matter how strong in body and agile of mind, has limitations in what he or she can accomplish alone. The collection of human beings that constitutes the army come together in cohesive units that, individually and collectively, accomplish the near impossible. The creation of my work has tried to reflect this idea that individually fragile human beings can be immeasurably strengthened by working together.

Last, but not least, I am having a new site built. If you would like to be informed by email when the new site is up, please fill in the enquiry form on this present site.

That’s all for now folks but please do come back as, to mix my clichés and metaphors, many more exciting events are in the pipeline. Bye for now and take care.

With best wishes,

Jilli.

Jacquetta Dott

Synergy

Desiree

Power