Textile Study Group

artists and tutors sharing ideas imagination and skills

Jan Miller's recent work begins and ends with a collection - researching old and creating new. Practical sampling stimulates thinking and further making. It is a circular process informed by experience and memory. Her background in science and family history of home dressmaking influence the outcome. Layers of skills passed on and retained: method and order, repetition and re-use. Small installations in appropriate containers, shelves or cupboards, hold the finished narrative.

Collections - of objects, photographs, textile etc - are infused with unique personal thoughts, connections and experiences. Selection and juxtapositions evoke and reinforce memories. Point-of-view (2010) is a collection displayed on and between transparent blocks and sheets that shift, slice, multiply and obscure what is visible as the viewer moves around the exhibit.

A collection of domestic 'handy' hints in a well-thumbed edition of Enquire Within (1939) inspired work for an exhibition "Size Matters":

... Lint may be quickly made by nailing a piece of old linen on a board and scraping its surface with a knife ... scraped lint is the fine filaments from [making] ordinary lint ...

Fragments of old sheets and blankets are too small for traditional re-use as rags, bandage or lint, but still retain folds, layers, initials, labels, laundry marks, repairs, etc., and record a textile history in Linen shards (2009).

Jan re-uses discarded fabrics and papers - often offcuts from her previous work. Material is marked by repeated manipulation or folding; natural dyes, inks and powders deepen the marks left by creases and incisions; printing and handstitch accentuate detail and increase texture and depth.

Jan has taught textiles on Access, A level and City and Guilds courses in the Creative Arts department at City College, Norwich. Since completing an MA Textile Culture, Jan works as a freelance artist based at Muspole Workshops, Norwich, participates in Open Studio, exhibits regularly and offers workshops and individual tutorial sessions on request.

Member of the Textile Study Group, 62 Group, Embroiderers' Guild, and Costume and Textile Association for Norfolk Museums.

Jan Miller