Spotlight: Alexandra Kingswell, Textile Artist

Alexandra Kingswell draws from her experience as a graphic designer to create colorful textile art.

How did you get started making fiber art? Why did you choose that medium?

I had an epiphany. In a fabric shop! Rewind several decades. After university I worked as a graphic designer – and I loved my job, but running my own business was busy and stressful. I sought relaxation in a friend’s craft classes.

Another friend took me to a fabric warehouse where I was supposed to buy 3 half yards of coordinating fabric. My plan got derailed as I was confronted with rows and rows of intense, saturated, vibrant, solid colours! I had no idea you could buy colours so intense and beautiful in fabric. I realised I wanted to spend more time with fabric, and less looking at a computer screen. I started to make more and more time to indulge my new passion.

How do you manage your creative time? Do you schedule start and stop times? Or work only when inspired?

I’m not sure inspiration has much to do with the creative process – at least not for me. If a lack of inspiration is the same as being ‘stuck’, then I know how to deal with that. When I am stuck, I play. Mindful play, without an end in mind, is a wonderful ‘unsticker’.

I go into my studio every moment I can. I have a busy family life and when I am with family I am with them 100%. Then when I retreat into my studio, I am there 100%. The times I can spend doing my artwork vary enormously, but I make them a priority over most other things. One thing I struggle with is admin – I resent giving it my precious time, but I know it is a necessary part of any enterprise.

Are you a “finisher”? How many UFOs do you think you have?

I’m not naturally a finisher – not at all! I finish everything I think is working, but I don’t waste time on things that are not turning out as I want. I am a hard task-master – I try to make everything I do the best it can be, and if it is not living up to expectations it doesn’t get finished. Fortunately, not many pieces get rejected.

I have a piece called ’So many blessings’. That piece very nearly didn’t get finished. I knew I’d chosen the ‘right’ colours for what I wanted, and I had the ‘right’ arrangement of those colours, but I wasn’t confident it would turn out well. However, I thought it was worth persisting. It is now one of my favourite pieces – hence the title I gave it.

Do you have a dedicated space for creating? If so, what does it look like?

When I’m in the middle a project it looks a mess! Then, at the end of every project, I have a tidy up and I’m ready to go again.

It’s a well organised, dedicated space with good storage, good lighting, and a supply of good chocolate! Also, I have a large, height-adjustable table which is worth its weight in gold. I have a largish design wall which is always full of embryonic ideas.

Scraps. Saver? Or be done with them?

I find it very hard to throw away even the tiniest scraps. I can see the potential in them all! That creates storage challenges.

Some years ago I made my daughter a wedding present quilt with scraps – that was a very special project as it included some of her early clothing. I hope I’ll grant myself time to make something similar in the future, but until then… the scrap crisis deepens!

Do you use a sketchbook or journal?

When I am consciously applying mathematical principles to my work I use gridded paper and a pencil to plan my number sequences. I translate these number sequences into colour sequences. That’s as far as planning and journaling go for me.

My process is such that I don’t know what the finished piece will look like until quite late in the process. This keeps my interest alive and never ceases to delight me. After completion, I do document all my quilts so when they are traveling or in exhibitions I can keep track of where they are.

How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?

Oh yes! Sometimes I have many projects on the go.

New ideas usually come while I’m working. Often I will start working on the new idea immediately – putting pieces up onto the design wall so I can be considering them while still working on other projects.

With a number of projects on the go, when it is late at night and I’m too tired to ’think’, I simply resort to cutting fabric, or basting, or sewing labels, whatever needs doing, saving the head work for when I’m fresher. Of course, the problem with putting ideas onto the design wall means that my lovely, new, double-the-previous-size design wall gets filled very quickly!

Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?

Unlike many of my earlier pieces, my latest work, called ‘Deep peace to you’, does not consciously use number sequences. It is entirely improv. I was inspired as I looked at the leading in some stained glass.

I began by putting pieces on my design wall. I started at the top and worked down, developing the shapes as the ideas came to me. It was a case of sew, unpick, sew, unpick, sew, unpick, as I worked in this unfamiliar way.

I enjoyed the process, but it is entirely different from my usual way of working. So, I guess that’s good for the grey matter! I will definitely be using this process again.

Does your work have a common thread?

I think you could describe my work as colourful – I thinks that’s an obvious ‘common thread’. While planning for a major exhibition recently I was updating my website.

As I worked on it I realised that I am always seeking the light in a piece – I’m constantly searching for that patch of luminosity, looking at ways to create or imply the light. That search for the light is certainly a common thread. 

I think it is an expression of the deep hope inside me – the hope and the joy that come to the surface when I’m working with beautiful colours. I want my work to give people pleasure – just as it does to me.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?

Regarding my fabric artwork? In my early days of making textile art I was acutely aware of coming to this medium comparatively late in life. I was a total newbie and felt I lacked the required skills. Someone I trust and admire told me not to forget the years I had had as a graphic designer – that those years would have given me some critical skills. She was right.

Years spent analysing my design work, asking myself “Does it fulfill the brief?” have given me the ability to critique my work objectively. I can tell when something is working, and when it isn’t. And I usually understand why. I am very grateful for this.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work? 

That’s never been an issue. If I ceased to be interested in my work I’d assume it was time to move onto something else – or at least take a break. I can’t be in my studio as much as I’d like, so perhaps that helps keep me motivated. I think creativity needs holding on open palms – in my experience grasping it kills it.

Do you critique your own work?

Constantly. And I think much of that process is subconscious by now. It’s a bit like an iceberg – most of it happens below the surface!

Tell us more about your current solo exhibition in Coventry Cathedral.

This is so exciting! For years I have wanted to show my work in places where people aren’t in a hurry. Places where people linger and listen. Places that often inspire awe… I think some of our wonderful cathedrals, and other places of worship, fit this bill. 

They are places where life’s major experiences are often lived out, where the heights and depths of human emotion are experienced in marriages, baptisms, funerals… where thoughts and feelings seem to have, over centuries, seeped into the very stones. They are places where people sometimes come if they are confused or hurting, open or seeking. This makes those places special.

Where else can people see your work?

My exhibition in Coventry Cathedral, UK runs until 31st August, ’24. All are very welcome. 

https://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/events/seeking-the-light

Then there’s my website: www.alexandra-kingswell.co.uk
@alexandra.kingswell for Facebook and Instagram

Interview posted August 2024

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