Sabine Kaner, Textile Artist
During this time of uncertainty, we would like to make note of the projects that have had to be placed on hold and the people we miss.
During this time of uncertainty, we would like to make note of the projects that have had to be placed on hold and the people we miss. Sabine Kaner has been working with us since last year to engage with and help deliver a project with the Afro-Caribbean Project in the Meadows.
Sabine Kaner – Associate Textiles Artist
I am a fine art textile artist. I combine paint, print, textiles, and stitching to create mixed media collages.
I grew up in London with biracial parents. My heritage is addressed implicitly in my work. I have studied both art and social sciences, in the past.
My process focuses on the use of repurposed clothes, particularly sleeves, which I deconstruct, cut up, cut into, and create compositions with.
I work in layers: painting and printing on canvas first, then using fabrics and stitching. The narrative of my work is drawn from my own autobiographical experiences as well as social, political and psychological issues, such as mental illness. The images, although semi-abstract, are very symbolic, including my use of colour.
In a recent work, which was chosen to be part of a group exhibition at the Whitechapel gallery in London, I decided to highlight the experience of the Windrush generation. My first piece draws on my experiences of growing up with my father who arrived on the Windrush as an ex-airman. My second piece refers to the experience of mixed race marriages.
My work was recently chosen for the front cover of the Stroud open studios SITselect programme, which is an annual celebration of textiles and crafts in the South West. Last year I had a piece of work selected for an exhibition in Brighton, celebrating the contribution of the Windrush generation to British society. I also contributed to an exhibition on experiences of mental illness in an exhibition in Hackney, London. I am currently artist of the month for an organisation called Outside in.
I have also been recently working alongside Aaron Schoburgh at NAE on a textile collage project. We aim to design an Illustrated map which collects together images in stitch made by elders of the Windrush generation from the Queens Road community centre in Nottingham . This project is currently ongoing.
Find out more about Sabine and her work here: http://sabinekaner.com/
