Fragmentation and Repair

Explore two essential textile-art concepts with leading artist Shelley Rhodes.

Fragmentation and Repair are two of the biggest buzzwords in textile and mixed-media art. In this fascinating and beautiful book, renowned textile artist Shelley Rhodes delves into both concepts, offering a wealth of fresh ideas, practical advice, and inspiring examples from her work and from embroiderers around the world, including Debbie Lyddon and Alice Fox.

Fragmentation lies at the heart of Shelley's work. She deconstructs and reassembles cloth, paper, and objects to create new pieces, incorporating found objects and materials collected over the years to add a personal note. She covers using salvaged and recycled materials, repurposing household items, and methods of distressing and manipulating surfaces by burning, piercing, rust-dyeing, and even composting. Shelley also demonstrates how larger pieces of work can be cut up, with components worked on individually to form a series of smaller works with strong visual impact.

Special attention is given to darning and patching, traditionally seen simply as ways to prolong the life of garments but now appreciated as meaningful and decorative techniques in their own right. Shelley also investigates the Japanese concepts of wabi-sabi (finding beauty in imperfection) and mottainai (using every last scrap), both of which constantly inform her work.

This beautifully illustrated book is the ideal companion for any textile artist wanting to bring notions of fragility, fragmentation, and repair into their work.