• The Swooning Crayfish, 2023 30cm x 30cm Willow, wool, rope, cotton tape, kumihimo cords

  • Emerald Party Shell, 2023 26cm x 30cm Willow, ribbon, cotton yarn

  • The Mysterious Undercurrent, 2023 27cm x 24cm Willow, cotton yarn, ribbon, raffia

  • Fair August, 2023 36cm x 27cm Willow, ribbon, wool yarn, cotton yarn

A Cast of Characters, was an online exhibition of twenty woven sculptures by artist Jenny Steele during May 2023. Each sculpture has its own character and is woven using a range of weaving techniques from basketry to loom weaving, passementerie and kumihimo braiding.

Each work is informed by a memory or research into a multitude of intertwining personal, architectural and geographical stories about the coast. The characters are part human, part story, part animal, part of the sea. The individual characters reference the notion of vessels, both as a metaphor for human life, and as way in which to carry necessary and needed belongings.

  • Sea Dreamer, 2023 26cm x 26cm Woven buff willow, dyed raffia, golden paper tape, utility rope, vintage passementerie trimming

  • Spring Smock, 2023 23cm x 26cm Willow, ribbon, cotton yarn

  • The Singing Foghorn, 2023 57cm x 24cm Willow, wool yarn

  • Tonka, 2023 42cm x 27cm x 25cm Willow, dogwood, yarn

whisper on the rocks 

I thought the boat was worn out 

but the motor drives it well

across the sea

with an engine 

thats reliable and powerful 

The beach I thought was made of stones 

but if you look closer 

they are all shells

You can hear the sea calling gently to you 

When you hold them to your ear

I was told the paint was peeling but actually it’s fresh and new and even, even

I thought the light was broken 

but it runs well throughout the night

A coherent, consistent light, revolving

As I sleep underneath 

on the woven chair

it whispers to me on the rocks 

2023

  • Blue Lantern Power, 2023 37cm x 25cm Willow, wool, rope, cotton yarn

  • A Flexible Backbone, 2023 30cm x 22cm Willow, dogwood, cotton yarn, kumihimo braid, wool yarn

  • The Cup, 2023 33cm x 26cm at widest Willow, kumihimo cords, ribbon, cotton yarn, rope, wool

  • Little Bairn’s dress, 2023 21cm x 22cm Willow, ribbons, gold vintage passementerie trimming

A Flexible Backbone, 2023

30cm x 22cm

Willow, dogwood, cotton yarn, kumihimo braid, wool yarn

The Cup, 2023

33cm x 26cm at widest

Willow, kumihimo cords, ribbon, cotton yarn, rope, wool

  • Sunday Plait, 2023 33cm x 25cm Willow, dogwood, wool yarn, antique trimming

  • Peach and Red Bond of Love, 2023 25cm x 20cm Willow, ribbons, cotton yarn

  • Actual Acrobatics, 2023 24cm x 19cm Willow, kumihimo cords, cotton yarn

  • Leaves in the Cup, 2023 26cm x 22cm Willow, wool, ribbon, cotton yarn

Fair August, 2023

36cm x 27cm

Willow, ribbon, wool yarn, cotton yarn

Tonka, 2023

42cm x 27cm x 25cm

Willow, dogwood, yarn 

  • Bildungsroman, 2023 38cm x 26cm Willow, wool, antique trimming, dogwood

  • Fair Raven, 2023 45cm x 26cm Willow, ribbon, pom poms, fabric, kumihimo braids

  • Peeled apple thrown over the left shoulder, 2023 38cm x 26cm Willow, kumihimo cords, ribbons, cotton yarn

  • Pink Powder, 2023 24cm x26cm Wool yarn, paper tape, pom poms, willow

Peeled apple thrown over the left shoulder, 2023

38cm x 26cm

Willow, kumihimo cords, ribbons, cotton yarn

Blue Lantern Power, 2023

37cm x 25cm

Willow, wool, rope, cotton yarn

The Singing Foghorn, 2023

57cm x 24cm

Willow, wool yarn

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Here I came to the very edge where nothing at all needs saying...Arnis