MEET THE MAKER
We meet the artist creating colourful narrative- led weavings on a grand scale
We meet Hannah Waldron, the weaver handcrafting banner-like textiles inspired by the Bauhaus archive and her love of travel
What is your background? ‘ I studied illustration at university,’ explains Hannah, now a fulltime textile designer. ‘ I didn’t necessarily want to become an illustrator, but I’ve always been driven to make things and see ideas become concrete.’ After her course, Hannah spent six months in Berlin, where she became captivated by the textile designs of Anni Albers and Gunta Stölzl at the Bauhaus Archive. ‘On returning to London, a friend of mine suggested that my work [involving mark-making with a grid structure] would translate well to the process of weaving,’ she explains, and soon bought herself a small loom to experiment with. It was while working towards a qualification in textiles in Stockholm that Hannah found her particular niche – telling stories through weaving. What inspires you? ‘ I feel the most receptive to new ideas when I’m travelling or visiting new places,’ explains Hannah, whose tapestries are vibrant and colourful creations, often following a narrative. ‘ I am very interested in the psychogeography of a place, and I always want to document sites with unique characteristics.’ How do you make one? ‘My weavings are normally about a place I have visited, or a journey I have taken. I tend to take that memory and break it down into scenes, characters, highlights, colours smells and sounds.’ Hannah then creates big gouache paintings to ensure the composition of each weaving is just so. ‘I then draw a cartoon of the design on graph paper, which sits behind the loom as I work. And once everything is threaded up, it’s just a case of putting in the hours!’ she laughs. Each weaving takes two to three weeks and Hannah likes to use multi-textured yarns including cotton, silk, wool and linen. ‘ It’s a long process, but each part of designing and making flexes di erent parts of my brain,’ Hannah muses. ‘It keeps me learning and constantly moving forward.’
* See more of Hannah’s designs on her website hannahwaldron.co.uk or at her upcoming exhibition, ‘Primary Traveller’ (21st April–19th May) at Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stroud, Glos, GL5 4AF. museuminthepark.org.uk