The Craft Study Centre, Farnham hosted the first exhibition for the shape of things which was produced as part of the programme's action research period, and played an important part in the programme's development
Woven Air by Rezia Wahid was shown at the Craft Study Centre September 2007 - January 2008 and later transferred to the City Gallery, Leicester. The Craft Study Centre also hosted the shape of things' group show in December 2010 which transferred from Flow Gallery, London
'Wahid's work is intensely personal. It communicates instantly her need to express lightness in cloth and light seen through it and within it. Her contemporary approach uses imagery drawn from the natural world, evoking the spiritual calm of the tile of the Mosque. If her cloths are 'political' or if they have, by recent events been seen to be reviewed in a social and political context, then they are graceful and tough enough to hold their own.' Simon Olding, curator Craft Study Centre
Artist's statement
'The commission for the shape of things came to me in two stages – I was asked to do the first one when I was travelling in order to explore the Islamic context of my work. Peace, tranquillity, light, iznik blue, shades of white, prayers and content are the words I wrote down to keep the feelings I captured whilst in the mosques.
My travel and my personal explorations led to producing ‘Five Prayers’ which represents the five daily prayers of Islam. The hand-dyed natural indigo symbolises the ‘Iznik Blue’, the inlayed squares show the five daily prayers and the different densities on the warp captures the various layers of ‘Light’ filtering through mosques and the shades of white within the stones and marble.
The second stage was a commission to produce work for a solo show at the Craft Study Centre. There are two main collections: ‘Sunset in Snow’ and ‘Sand with Mist’. They are explorations of my interest in fine art communicating my need to express lightness in cloth: light to be seen through it and within it. For ‘sunset in snow’ I have drawn images seen on a beautiful day filled with white snow and the sun setting on the mountain covered with white snow in Granada, Spain. ‘Sand with Mist’ evokes the spiritual calm felt whilst watching the sun rise on the sand dunes in the dessert of Dubai with images of mist seen in Manchester. They connect art with craft and practicality with the echo of my moments of the subtle beauty around me.' Rezia Wahid
‘I've lived here for 20 years - never been before. Will come again. Fab’ member of the public
Catalogue
The catalogue was written by Simon Olding with an introduction by David Kay
Copies of the catalogue are available from the The Craft Study Centre
