Form I and II, paper yarn, 45cm & 70cm long
Form I, (detail) paper yarn, 45cm long
Seedforce (detail), nylon monofilament & copper wire, 300cm long
Sue Hiley Harris
Sue Hiley Harris was born in Australia, moved to the UK in 1974 and now lives and works in Wales. She has exhibited and undertaken many commissions, both internationally and in the UK, and has lectured and held workshops in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the US. Her work has recently been seen in international textile exhibitions in the UK, Australia, France, Poland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Japan. Recent solo shows include Mount Street Gallery, Brecon (2006), Ararat Gallery, Victoria, Australia (2004), Walford Mill Craft Centre, Dorset (2003) and Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery, Brecon (2002). She is a member of the Makers Guild in Wales, FibreArt Wales and the Hay Makers, Hay-on-Wye.
Support from the Arts Council of Wales has enabled Sue to have periods of intensive experimentation and development. She now creates free hanging sculpture and wall mounted relief pieces suitable for public buildings, as well as small scale pieces for domestic settings and pieces for outdoors. The concepts for her structures are meticulously worked out, yet they have emotional connotations and impact. They bring together pervasive themes in her life and art, encompassing a fascination with geometry, the study of fine art, an abiding interest in science and the environment, a deep understanding of yarn and the practice of weaving.
I respond to ideas, shapes and geometry in nature and life, and translate an essence into my sculptures. The idea for a piece evolves over time as a 'mind' weaving. The piece takes shape, each intersection envisaged, each thread accounted for, while holding the image in my mind. Then come sketches, paper models, mathematical calculations and templates; finally the warping, weaving and construction.
Woven into the pieces is a precise structural regularity; enhanced or distorted by the chosen yarns: hemp, linen, bamboo, paper, wool, silk, wire or nylon; monofilament, plied or singles. Free hanging, the sculptures respond to their setting, to changes in light and to the movement of the air.”
Sue Hiley Harris, 2006