Susan Holmes: Fabric Artist by
Cerys Dallaway-Davidson
Bateman, RRP $59.99
Susan Holmes is arguably New
Zealand’s most accomplished and acclaimed fabric artist and this stunning publication explores the creative
impetus which propelled her, (of WearableArts fame), into fabric design.
So beautifully produced and
illustrated, it features amazing photographs of her work over the decades.
Working as a fabric artist since
1971, Susan Holmes is now most recognised for her contribution to the wearable
arts, but her work has also spanned the fields of craft, fashion and fabric
art, tracing the ever-changing key developments of these sectors in New
Zealand. Constantly improvising and devising new techniques, over time she
developed her own methods for treatments such as block printing, stencilling
and spraying fabrics, along with dyeing and fabric manipulation, such as
crinkle silk. An intuitive engagement with fabrics is the cornerstone to her
creativity, with the material always influencing the design in so many ways: ‘I
always start with the fabric. I feel it and look at it and drape it about to
see how it behaves.’
She has contributed to the arts
and crafts sector as a tutor at a number of institutions and has participated
in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Her career encompasses various shows
and competitions: notably she was the 1978 winner of the Fashion and Fantasy
section of the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards and the 1996 Supreme
Award at the New Zealand Wearable Art Awards (now World of WearableArt™) a show
she has entered every year since 1988. This book brings her story to life, told
through numerous fascinating images and an engaging, insightful narrative.
Cerys Dallaway-Davidson is a
Collection Manager at Auckland War Memorial Museum. She was a trustee of the
New Zealand Fashion Museum (NZFM) and has worked in various roles across the
museum and arts sector. She has contributed to a number of projects and
publications throughout her career, ranging from the curation of magazine
spreads, the development of the 2012 Directory of New Zealand Museums and
Galleries, and research assistance and writing for the NZFM exhibitions Home
Sewn and Age of Aquarius: a 1970s revolution in fashion.
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