Makers announced for the Zoffany & QEST Second Life Exhibition
23rd August 2024
QEST have partnered with Zoffany to present an exhibition featuring nine QEST Scholars at the Grade II* listed Voysey House. The exhibition titled ‘Second Life’ will showcase creations from Scholars who are repurposing the fabric taken from the Zoffany x Benedict Foley Entrance Hall at this year’s WOW!house into revelatory new designs.
The exhibition is part of Sanderson Design Group’s sustainable Live Beautiful pledge to reimagine the entire life cycle of products. From fashion to art, the Scholars will present a reimagining of the Long Gallery Brocade, a wool and cotton fabric woven by one of Suffolk’s last remaining silk mills and dye houses using traditional techniques and 100% natural fibres.
The nine selected Scholars are as follows:
- Alex Pengelly (Knit design)
- David Morrish (Digital embroidery)
- Elizabeth Ashdown (Passementerie)
- Hannah White (Sculptural textile art & woven textiles)
- Isabel Nellie Walters (Costume, historic dress, sculpture & props)
- Juliet Bailey & Franki Brewer (Woven textile design & weaving)
- Lora Avedian (Mixed media embroidery)
- Marina Hughes (Decorative art)
- Virna Pasquinelli (Millinery)
QEST’s work advocating excellence in British craftsmanship perfectly aligns with our values as a
company of British designers and makers and our sustainability pledge, Live Beautiful.— Lisa Montague, CEO of Sanderson Design Group PLC
The QEST Second Life Exhibition runs from 9 September to 9 October 2024 at Voysey House, Sanderson’s Lane, Chiswick, W4 4DS.
Complementary tickets are available here on a first come first served basis.
Visit the Event page here.
Alex Pengelly
Knit design
Skilled at crafting engaging narratives to engage audiences through touch, sight and experience with a highlight on brand ethos and heritage, Alex will rework and embellish the fabric with intricate machine knit sections, lustrous applique techniques and woven knit stitches to bring to life the making processes at the heart of the cloth.
David Morrish
Digital embroidery
Pushing the boundaries of digital embroidery and in collaboration with his wife upholsterer Alison Morrish, David is creating an embroidered, Jacobean-inspired padded headboard to highlight the relationship between hand, free machine and digital embroidery, blending traditional heritage skills with new technologies.
Elizabeth Ashdown
Passementerie
As one of the few remaining Passementeries in the UK, Elizabeth will utilise traditional and endangered craft skills in trims, tassels, braids, bullion and rosettes to create an opulent pull tassel with Ric-Rac edging, Venetian Red Wool Silk bows, a bullion skirt with suspended pom poms, and a rosette, all in a glorious celebration of colour, craft, texture, pattern, energy and playfulness.
Hannah White
Sculptural textile art & woven textiles
A skilled artist and weaver with a fascination for how constructed textiles can create sculptural forms, Hannah will create a three-dimensional wall piece which reinterprets traditional constructed textile techniques, such as pleating and hand-stitching, in a contemporary way.
Isabel Nellie Walters
Costume, historic dress, sculpture & props
Having worked for the Royal Opera House and other large scale film productions, Isabel has combined the intriguing historical beginnings of both Chelsea Harbour and Temple Newsam to create a reimagined piece called The Lost Pearl, a Woodland Nymph who walks alone in the dark woods searching for lost pearls. Fashioned in the style of a Venetian Mask with skin, leaves and branches made from Long Gallery Brocade, she will be beautiful and full of sorrow with droplets of beads cascading from her eyes.
Juliet Bailey & Franki Brewer
Woven textile design & weaving
Working on jacquard and dobby handlooms and using specialist weaving and design software, Juliet and Franki will create a hand-woven wall panel/room divider utilising strips of Long Gallery Brocade and Wool Satin in Venetian Red and Tabac from the Zoffany Entrance Hall. Fabrics will be cut into strips, sewn into ribbons, turned out and pressed, and then hand-woven into a panel using tri-axis weaving techniques.
Lora Avedian
Mixed media embroidery
With a background in set design and prop making and a focus on wall art and soft furnishings for interiors, Lora will embellish the sofa from the Zoffany Entrance Hall by crafting embroidery using as combination of hand techniques and her free-motion machine, cutting shapes from the Long Gallery Brocade and using appliqué to create a new design which is reflective of the original. The embroidery will be textured, tactile and feature oversized versions of the original bouquet in the design.
Marina Hughes
Decorative art
Skilled in a wide range of techniques and happiest when emulating or reproducing period styles, Marina will use inspiration from a watercolour illustration to create a framed wall art piece using the Wool Satin in Venetian Red shaped into a kimono and embellished with a complimentary chinoiserie design which combines raised gesso, gilding and paint. The kimono will be mounted on a glazed, antique paper effect background, and placed in a frame decorated in craquelure or distressed gold effect.
Virna Pasquinelli
Millinery
With a refined passion for creating headwear using mixed media textiles, set design, and installations, Virna will craft a hat using advanced wire forming techniques, ensuring a durable yet delicate framework that beautifully shapes the overall design. The primary fabric will be the exquisite Wool Satin in Tabac, known for its luxurious texture and hue that exudes sophistication and timeless elegance, with Long Gallery Brocade used for the lining.
We are grateful to be partnering with the Sanderson Design Group, Zoffany and Benedict Foley on this opportunity for our QEST Alumni – from a wide range of craft disciplines – to re-purpose the elegant fabrics used in the WOW!house Entrance Hall, highlighting their unique talents and creative vision.
— Deborah Pocock, CEO of QEST
