Symbols - Golden Girls - SOLD
By Vivienne Beaumont
Machine embroidery on printed and slashed substrate
Original artwork
Framed
Image size: H: 90cm x W: 80cm
Framed size: H: 105cm x W: 92cm
Vivienne Beaumont is a storyteller in textile. The ephemeral and cyclical nature of life is at the core of her textile practice. Her work references the figurative, the mythological, fairy tales, nature and female archetypes.
Often, she combines strong, clear drawing with depictions of equally strong women, sometimes in disturbing or threatening situations. She might be described as a textile successor to Paula Rego, working in fabrics and threads instead of Rego's pastels.
Here we have two land girls, the ploughed and sown field behind them, clutching symbols of fertility and harvest. The pomegranate is a recurring element for Vivienne, with its seed and womb-like shape, as a symbol of both fertility and mortality.
The golden colour of their robes, the skirts adorned with ears of wheat, and their rich auburn hair blend into the sun-kissed background of the crop.
Once again, in this piece, the detail and quality of stitching are marvellous, the whole having a mystical beauty and a sense of otherworldliness.
ABOUT VIVIENNE BEAUMONT
Vivienne's extraordinary textile work is shaped by stories and symbols. She takes inspiration from ancient myths, fairy tales and nature, from female archetypes and the process of transformation – growing up and growing old. Rites of passage, risks and vulnerabilities pepper her narratives.
Based on concepts she first developed during her MA, her visual stories are ripe with seeds, pomegranates and scenes of harvest and fertility. Textile pictures feature goddesses and their ability to relate to other people and other creatures.
Feminists might easily find an affinity with her work – and so might anyone looking for hidden meanings and intriguing imagery drawn from centuries of story-telling and emotional experience.
She starts with sketches and a drawing, transforming the design onto fabric in paint or by mono-printing. Using machine embroidery, print and collaged textile elements, she works with threads as other artists do with paint – blending, composing and layering. The results are visually stunning, as well as tactile.
“I try to capture something something of the folk tale or fairy tale: the jeopardy of the miller’s daughter, the alchemy of weaving straw into gold. These tales have endured the ages, suggesting they hold a deeper meaning for us. ...Mothers and daughters, love and rites of passage – the repeated cycles from one generation to the next – these loom large in my textile story.”
A former student of Fine Art in Cardiff and awarded a medal of Excellence from City & Guilds, Vivienne is a retired teacher based in Shropshire. We are honoured to be one of the first galleries to select and show her work.