Jane Walkley is a UK based Contemporary Tapestry Weaver working with jesmonite and paper. She explores place, memory and materiality through her practice.
Jane grew up in the North East of England and comes from three generations of brass founders who served the iron and steel businesses of industrial Middlesbrough. The casting methods that Jane uses today echo the same processes that were employed in the family run foundry since 1862.
Through her textile practice Jane considers how industrial buildings that are no longer used for their original purpose, often destined for demolition, invoke memory and attachment. Jane questions whether site-specific interactions can help to bridge the gap between memory and place in the absence of these buildings and in doing so allow us to make connections to our past keeping the memories and the attachment we feel towards these places alive.
Jane casts jesmonite in her studio in Leeds, creating individual jesmonite units that have a direct connection to the industrial sites that she is researching. Each individual unit is then woven into cloth on a tapestry loom. This process allows Jane to develop her practice beyond the traditional woven rectangle so that the work takes on a sculptural quality.
Jane exhibits on a national level and is a member of the British Tapestry Group and PRISM. Jane is currently studying for a Masters in Creative Practice at Leeds Arts University.
