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Cloth & Culture NOW
the artists - Freddie Robins, UK
My cultural roots are evident in the work that I produce because
my work is all about me, and my thoughts about the “world” that
I occupy and that cannot be separated from the culture within which
I was raised and live. These cultural roots are not of over
riding importance to me, or my work, but they are intrinsically
linked. I am female, British and white. These definitions
are listed in order of importance to me. I am often told
that my work is very “English”, I take this to mean “British” as
people from outside of the UK often do not know that there is a
difference! I feel that this “Britishness” is
expressed through my use of humour, irony and subversion. My
cultural roots are also expressed through my use of materials,
predominately wool, use of colour and my employment of knitting. My
work conveys multi-layered messages and meanings. I can imagine
that these are sometimes meaningless to other cultures. The
titles of my works are important and I often employ text within
the works. The meanings of these works are obviously completely
lost if you do not read English.
My first awareness of textiles came through “Janie”,
a rag doll made for me when I was 14 months old by my Auntie Rita,
my Mother’s older sister. Janie’s orange wool hair
was a great comfort to me. I would tickle my nose with it. Her
hair would gradually wear out and my Godmother Pam would give her
a new lot, always wool, always orange. Pam was my Mother’s
childhood friend; she was like a second Mother to me and became
my greatest inspiration. She was always making things, not
frumpy, lumpy things that you hid in your wardrobe, but fashionable,
desirable toys and clothes. She was a free spirit. She
lived alone, was unmarried and just got on with her own thing. I
associated textiles with her and therefore with freedom. Pam
taught me to knit, it was difficult, she was left-handed. I
loved knitting. When I was 17 I entered a knitwear design
competition in a national craft magazine. I won. I
went on to study knitted textiles at both Middlesex Polytechnic
(now Middlesex University) and the Royal College of Art in London. I
have been working as an artist using knitted textiles as my primary
medium since 1997 but I still have Janie and the jumper.
An enormous range of emotional and physical experiences has further
influenced me. I have had first hand exposure to a wide range
of cultural influences form traveling and working abroad. These
range from traveling within Europe, USA, Southern Africa and Mexico. Visiting
Borneo, Tokyo and Singapore and taking part in Britto International
Artists’ Workshop in Bangladesh (2003) alongside artists
from Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Hong Kong and Japan (www.brittoarts.org).
All these influences have inspired and energized me but the influences
are not evident in the work that I produce. The only exception
to this is the work that I produced whilst in Bangladesh where
I was using local materials and employing local “craftsmen” to
make finished pieces. The subject matter and imagery that
I worked with was a combination of my own personal references and
things that I found, felt and experienced whilst in Bangladesh. These
works have very obvious and direct trans-cultural influences. Whilst
I was in Bangladesh I gave a presentation about my practice at
the Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka. The audience was 95% male. They
all had an excellent understanding of English but the work was
not understood. The humour was completely lost to most of
the audience. The work that I produced whilst in Bangladesh
was seen as exclusive and individualistic.
With reference to the Transition & Influence project
I would say that my textile practice is an expression of my identity
(as opposed to an expression of a particular cultural identity)
and that the process that I employ (as opposed to my textile
practice) has emerged from traditional practice. I do not
feel more connected to contemporary textile practitioners than
to practitioners of any other discipline. My connection
to another practitioner is driven more by the meanings and messages
behind the work than by the materials or process employed in conveying
those messages.
UK
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