Meet a Textile Artist
Glenys Mann
}“My work is
inspired by the
emotions of the
environment”
Artist statement
I am a contemporary quiltmaker who works with ‘found’ cloth, namely old wool blankets and silk, all hand
stitched. The cloth is natural-dyed with leaves, bark, lichen and any found organic material.
During the period of time that I have been a ‘quiltmaker’, I have struggled with having to conform to the
strict rules of quilt making. I have been constantly reminded that my seams were not straight and that my
points never met perfectly and that I ‘should’ only use the traditional cloth – cotton - to make a quilt.
Then, I found to my huge relief that there was another way of expressing my emotions. The emergence of
the ‘contemporary quilt’ gave me the answers that I had been looking for … to be able to ‘do’ what I wanted
to do, without the constant nagging of the traditionalists.
To have the freedom to use cloth that held a memory of a previous owner; to use cloth that may be a bit
worn; to hand stitch, but never with a perfect stitch or thread; to be able to play in the dirt and the leaves, to
colour this precious cloth; to be able to set my own rules, if I really needed them; to have the guts to put my
strongest emotion into my work; and, to have my work accepted by my peers, without any criticism.
My work is inspired by emotions of the environment, memory, the world events and emotions of everyday
life. Seems that there is much to tell and no doubt I will have a lot more to say, in my quilts, in the future.
Glenys Mann’s definition of what constitutes a quilt is as
Biography flexible as is her working process; she prefers to term her
work, just “cloth, worked cloth”. She describes how in
1987/88 she had 27 rejections from quilt shows and rather
than (in her words), “burying her head in the sand”, she sought out new workshops and
techniques to widen her skills. She works to the minimal requirements (now usually two
layers or less) and describes herself as essentially “wicked” – a non-conformist who has
become even more radical with time. And it is these characteristics that may well be the
secret of Mann’s success; a generosity and good humour which, combined with the
courage to push personal and technical boundaries in a search for new areas, is limited
only by the rate of movement toward new horizons – spiritual and professional.
Glenys has been entering her textile art and wearable art into competitions since
1994, with an impressive list of awards. Her work has appeared in exhibitions all over
the world and has been acquired by many galleries worldwide. She is the coordinator
of fibre conferences held within Australia and New Zealand, where she invites the best
international and Australian textile/fibre artisans to share their knowledge with people of
like minds and she has acted as a curator and judge in the textiles world.
Glenys has taught
workshops in myriad
techniques, teaching
many creative souls
the secrets to her
techniques.
Based in Tamworth,
Mann is strongly
influenced by the
native landscape and
incorporates both its
imagery and its fragility
into her work.
Visit her website for a
list of her achievements,
www.mannmaid.com.au
