Louise Riley

I am inspired by life's quest, the force that draws us through our thorny paths. I find it fascinating how predictable and startling people are at the same time and overwhelmed by how awesome humankind is, how beautifully designed, something I thought a lot about while breastfeeding my daughter, who so neatly
fit into the curve of my body - inside and out. These thoughts give me vertigo
and I have to convince myself it is all ordinary to get my balance again.

My current work explores union and communion and the construction and
distruction within. Societal pressure versus primal urges. Are they symbiotic,
or opposing forces?

The literal abundance of fabric and thread as domestic content and construction, not limited to gender, makes our relationship to it very close. They are a huge part of communion and relationships, family sofas, beds, carpet...

When I am sewing figures, I think of the thread being strands of DNA and the
stitches binary codes and the fabric (our second skin anyway) a grid and that
leads me onto String theory, experiences happening along side each other with
endless alternative outcomes, it all just feels like cosmic alignment! It really
makes me think that paint is just so pointless...

...

winchester school of art, ba fine art textiles 2006