Every 1 2024

NBO Members Exhibition

Helen Leaf

Every 1 2024 / May 7, 2024

Tower pod, shades of pink

Ply-splitting; artist-made linen cords
This is a shape I now come back to again and again – I enjoy how I can pull some of the cords really tight to create this undulating surface, taking some cords out of the weave gradually so that this narrowing form is revealed. This piece started when I realised that I didn’t like pink, and would never work with it – then decided to embrace this and make a vessel in pink, without quite knowing how it would turn out. I loved making it and it’s now one of my favourite pieces.

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H: 5.5" | W: 5" | D: 5"

Photo by artist

Helen Leaf

Notts, UK

I work with ply-splitting, creating vessels and sculptural forms that express a sense of wholeness and grace. My materials of choice are woollen yarns, particularly from British sheep breeds; I also work with paper and linen. Ply-split braiding is a labour-intensive technique with origins in the camel girths of Rajasthan. Applied to contemporary craft, it sits somewhere between basketry and off-loom weaving. In all my work I seek to make things that inspire, that have a timeless quality, and that suggest a sense of elegance and integrity.