Materials by Mika Hirosawa and Tim Parry-Williams

Two leading hand-weavers, Mika Hirosawa and Tim Parry-Williams, have created individual pieces inspired by Japanese cloth design techniques by utilising conventional and unusual materials.

The end result is an intriguing collection of scarves, cloth, framed work and ‘noren’ [split curtains traditionally hung in doorways].

Visitors will also be able to see how pieces are developed, from the initial concept through to yarn development, sampling and the final cloth design.

Mika Hirosawa studied woven textiles at Central and St. Martins College of Art & Design. She mainly produces winter scarves using wool, but also uses unconventional fibres such as Japanese paper and recycled silk selvedges. Her recent collection consisted of six designs in three 1950s inspired colourways, woven with finest lambs’ wool. Mika has designed and produced scarves for designers including Margaret Howell and Kei Kagami, and her scarves has been sold among others at Barneys New York and Browns in London. Her recent exhibitions include ‘From the Shadow to the Light’ at the Contemporary Applied Arts in 2002.

Tim Parry-Williams trained at The Surrey Institute of Art and Design, Farnham, and Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, Japan. His work explores yarn properties and woven structures and is inspired by the understated elements of natural or man-made forms. He is a Senior Lecturer of Woven Textiles at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, and will work with Japanese leading contemporary weaver, Junichi Arai, from July for the ‘Through the Surface’ project. Tim is based in the recently established Amu studio, which is part of the Maka Textile Collaboration, a group of hand weavers working from individual studio bases in Britain, Italy, Japan and Indonesia. The first Maka exhibition will be held in Tokyo in September 2003.