Biography
Sharon Kearley is a Textiles Artist who is driven by process and sits at the intersection of textiles disciplines.
Sharon's handwoven cloth echoes the rhythm, presence and stories of communities past. Ephemeral and fragile, her cloth draws on the trace of the connection of people and place, alongside delicate elements of time.
Researching archive maps, forgotten paths and the rhythm of walking, she reminisces through the weaving of warp and weft, a slowing of time; a narrative that conveys the land and our connection to it.
Highlighting traditional hand weaving skills and the importance of natural materials; a need for zero waste. Her love of indigo and rust shares the tales of both people and place, marking traces in time. Her weaving poses the question of the now and its importance in shaping the future with regards to our past.
Her work applies a diagnostic exploratory approach, responding to the physicality and sensitivity of materials combining weave, print and dye processes. She investigates linear connections, sequence and repeat within a compositional space, applying minimal and focused use of colour, series, scale and multiples.
Sharon graduated in 1995 from The London Institute, Chelsea School of Art, with a BA(Hons)Textiles Design and in 2019 with an MA Textiles from UCA, Farnham.
Her expertise in the field of Fashion, Textiles and Costume spans twenty-five years and she has worked nationally and internationally within the Film, Theatre and Television Industries; the infamous Big Breakfast and The Bigger Breakfast Show of the mid ninties; styling presenters Liza Tarbuck and Johnny Vaughn, Sara Cox and Dermot O'Leary.
She has worked nationally and internationally as a Woven Textiles Artist and an experienced Lecturer, sharing her skills through exhibiting, discourse, writing, teaching and mentoring. Sharon is a firm believer in dual professionalism, where education, community and making are deeply intertwined. She has run her own professional textiles practice for the last fourteen years, a weaver for thirty.
She lectures part time on the Foundation Diploma at Trowbridge College and is the Pathway Leader for Fashion, Textiles and Costume. She has lectured at the London Metropolitan University and Winchester School of Art on the BA and MA Textiles Design Courses, completed a number of residencies at universities, galleries and museums, and has secured funding to collaborate with many high-profile organisations pushing her passion for weave.
Her debut book ‘Woven Textiles-A Designer’s Guide,’ was published in 2014 by Crowood Press, is used as a teaching aid at Degree level in many reputable Art Schools.
Sharon Kearley Weave
