The Hunt

The Hunt was created for Bite Size miniature textile exhibition curated by Lesley Millar in response to my artist exchange to Japan in 2003 as part of the Through the Surface: Collaborating textile artists from Britain and Japan project that Millar directed in 2003. This is an extract from the Bite Size catalogue entre:

"Through the Surface enabled me to travel to the outskirts of Kyoto and open up to the minutia of the day to day in Japan and to observe things I may otherwise have failed to see. The opportunity to exhibit internationally presented the boundary to make poetic connections and subtle explorations caught within the ordinary; such as to cycle up and down Nishi Otsu hill side to observe lengths of blue tarpaulin covering an incomplete concrete house, frayed and weathered but surprisingly alive with exuberant personality.

My stay at Harumi’s house echoed this fascination as the character of the studio and weaver infiltrated my sensibility. I was always aware of living in a weaver’s house, from the moment I showered in the morning- noticing the light flicker over the straight particles of water which was as tender and touching as the anticipation in her waiting warps. While walking in a bamboo wood nearby I found a sheet of metal which I etched into the surface with an embroidery needle, seeming to transform the hard metal into something which appeared more like a woven surface, imposing an aesthetic into the discarded object. " Claire Barber 2011