MARY NORDEN FOR AMONG THE PINES
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Mary Norden paints with fabrics using an eclectic mix of vintage materials sourced from different centuries and continents, functions and histories, all faded by time and use.
Inspired by nature and simple domestic objects, the starting point for a new piece of work can be a crudely darned piece of linen cloth with a torn edge, or a fragment of an exquisitely printed 18th century bedcover. She builds up shapes by overlapping layers of fabric, sometimes adding lines of visible stitching all of which gives the pictures a three dimensional quality. They convey stillness, a quiet moment and a sense of time passing.
Mary Norden trained and worked in textiles for many years where she became renowned for her unique use of colour and pattern whilst also becoming established as a writer and art director.
Mary Norden’s work is “…. made using remnants of old fabric - each piece, whether it be the lining of a worn kitchen curtain, or the patched bodice of a Victorian nightdress, or even a painter’s dust sheet, has its own unique story. These are everyday materials, full of domestic memories. I combine the fabrics, a process of renewal, to create a new story, a landscape or a still-life, which then in itself becomes a new memory.”