Off the Wall

Crafts Study Centre

University College for the Creative Arts

Falkner Road , Farnham,

Surrey GU9 7DS

6 December 2005 —24 February 2006

Walking into July Edwards exhibition Off the Wall, there is an immediate sense of light, space, even freedom. The tapestries and drawings move through space, around the room, between pillars, float within transparent ‘imaginary spaces’.

The sense of liberation is, however, qualified. Most of the work is actually ‘contained’ in sketchbooks, cardboard boxes and Perspex boxes. When the work does ‘escape’ out of containment, off the wall, the dynamic of the journey is energised through Edwards’ remarkable, sensitive, weaving skills, and the spatial potential of the woven strip methodology becomes apparent.

Journeys take place through space, over time; weaving takes place in space, over time. Edwards’ concern with space and time is expressed most obviously in her Textures of Memory 5cm x 12m tapestry which, like a reel of cinematic film documenting each of the days spent weaving, reveals image after image, frame after frame; many still tantalisingly unseen within the coiled cloth. Time and again the viewer is aware of the cinematic qualities of the imagery; the way in which she presents us with full frame close ups, cropped images and equally the sense of an occasional disappearing horizon.

Jilly Edwards has chosen to reveal and conceal aspects of practice in ways that seek to challenge our preconceptions of visibility and invisibility, of structure and surface. Most of the tapestries in the exhibition are hung in such a way that both sides are visible rather than hung with one side against the wall, and yet there are no warp ends to be seen.

In the past, July Edwards has been noted for her luxurious use of colour; however, in this exhibition there is an overwhelming sense of restraint, of quiet. Rather than using the interaction of vibrant colour, here she explores the potential of marks which ‘are reduced to signs and symbols, like runes or keys on a map or bar codes, becoming a personal language.’ In the larger works particularly, Edwards has discovered a landscape both internal and external in which she explores the way in which her vocabulary of marks reflect the contemplative nature of the work.

The display of her sketchbooks, as a central aspect of the exhibition, allows us admittance to aspects of creative process normally hidden from public scrutiny. The journals/ sketchbooks in the showcases were enticing, offering the rare chance to access a creative journey through the processes of reflection and making.

In this exhibition July Edwards is seeking to relocate tapestry ‘Off the Wall’, whilst retaining the essential nature of the medium. The questions raised are those shifting sands of context, space and time, and we, the viewers, are given an exceptional opportunity to take a part in that discourse.

Lesley Millar

Reader in Contemporary Craft Practice

University College for the Creative Arts

Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers 217, March 2006