Biography

was born in London and worked as an IT consultant until 1998, when I moved to Oxfordshire and gave up full time employment to pursue my interest in art and particularly textiles.

I studied at Gloucestershire College of Further Education and University of West of England in Soft Furnishings and Textiles and began lecturing on a part-time basis for Gloucestershire College in 2003 on a variety courses. I have a Cert Ed (FE), Public Liability Insurance and CRB check.

Between 2006 and 2010, I worked on a number of science/art public engagement projects firstly as lead artist for "Designs for Life", funded by Wellcome Trust, this was a collaboration with Oxford Trust, Diamond Light Source and the Oxfordshire Federation of WI's. Later, as Artist in Residence for Diamond Light Source. You can read my blog on the experience here.

I have also worked with metal sculptor Paula Groves, providing designs for a number of pieces for her Bronze-Medal-winning stand at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Other commissions include shrouds for Bristol NHS Trust's Viewing Rooms (formally mortuaries), at Frenchay and Southmeads Hospitals.

In 2010 I began developing a number of collections based on Fabrics and Furnishings and applying some of the techniques I have been using in these projects to create unique pieces for interiors. These collections can be viewed here.

More information on the above, can be found in the Gallery and Projects pages. I continue to lecture part time as well as exhibiting, working to commission and giving talks and workshops throughout the country.

For more information on my Fine Art projects, see www.annegriffiths.com

Artist Statement

I specialise in working with transparent materials, embellished with machine stitch and paint, sometimes combined with heavier materials, such as acrylic or metal to create durable pieces. My starting points are often a word or quotation that demands visual representation.

"Liminal" is a word and a state, that fascinates me and my first body of work explored the ambiguity and tension in the boundaries between fibres in woven fabrics.

Inspired by my residency at Diamond Light Source, I investigated a number of scientific projects involving iron and completed a series of sculptural pieces entitled "Anamnesis". In this work, the memory of materials are imprinted on cloth, this could be the patterns formed by magnetic fields, the prints made by rusting materials or the stains from iron pigments.

For my last exhibition I returned to "Liminality", and nowhere in literature is there a better starting point than Lewis Carrol's "Alice in Wonderland". Where to enter the betweenity of Alice's Wonderland, you must follow the White Rabbit, falling down into the dreamworld of the Red Queen and the Cheshire Cat.

Community Projects

• "Felted Panels" for Great Western Park Didcot. 2017 Funded Vale & Downland Museum
• "Stitch Wantage 2016" 2016 Funded Vale & Downland Museum, Tanner Trust, Vale of the White Horse DC. Made by members of the Wantage community
• "Ashbury Map Textile Hanging" 2015 Funded Vale of the White Horse DC. Initial design Stuart Roper, made by Ashbury village community
• "Uffington School - Iphone" 2013 Workshops with children at Uffington School to produce Alice in Wonderland themed iphone hanging
• "Ladygrove Primary School - Big Draw" 2012 Week long residency with the whole school, each year group working on a different theme
• "Cornerstone - "One Snowy Night" Cushion Project" 2011 Collaboration with Chalgrove Primary School, Hagbourne Primary School, and Didcot Girls' School
• "Cowley Road Carnival" 2011 Collaboration with BMW and Windmill School, Headington
• " 2008 The Largest Diffraction Pattern in the World"
• " The Big Draw - Mill Arts Centre Banbury" 2008 Banbury Town community project in collaboration with the Multicultural Centre to create textile hanging for Banbury Library based on hats worn by characters in children's literature
• "Designs for Life" 2006 Funded Wellcome Trust. Collaboration Science Oxford and Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institute

Exhibitions

• Cornerstone Gallery, Didcot "Alice's House" October-November 2012
• Farfield Mill, Sedbergh, "Alice's House" November-December 2011
• Mably, France, September 2011
• Oxford Museum, "Curiouser and Curiouser" June-September 2011
• Cornerstone Gallery, Didcot, "Flora and Fauna" March-April 2010
• The Ignition Gallery, The Joiners Shop, Chatham Dockyard, Nov-Dec 2009
• Farfield Mill Arts Centre, Sedbergh, September-November 2009
• Weaver's Gallery Ledbury, July 2009
• Mill Arts Centre Banbury, July 2009
• The Motto Project: Cloth is my Bread, Kendal, September 2008
• Bluecoat Gallery Liverpool, September 2008
• Mill Arts Centre Banbury, 2008; 2009
• Contemporary Texiles Fair, Landmark Arts Teddington, March 2008
• Vale & Downland Museum, Exhibition of Local Artists, 2008; 2009; 2010; 2011
• Banbury Museum, December 2007
• Harrogate Fashion and Embroidery Show, October 2007
• New Arts Centre Chatham, July 2007
• Festival of Quilts, August 2006
• Said Business School, Oxford, May 2006
• Harrogate Fashion and Embroidery Show, October 2005

Press, Media & Publications

• Workshop on the Web, "Miniature Kimonos", July 2017
• BBC Radio Oxford "Afternoon", Interview 'Juxtaposition', 19th August 2016
• That's Oxfordshire TV 'Tapestry of Wantage in 2016'
• The Observer 'Peer Inside, Briefly, the Smallest Museum in New York', June 2015
• Wall Street Journal 'Tiny Downtown Museum Expands', June 2015
• 4 Shires Magazine, Artist of the Month, February 2010
• Stitch Magazine, "Bras to Bags", February 2010
• BBC Radio Oxford "Arts and Culture Show", 27th January 2010
• BBC Radio Oxford "Afternoon", 12th January 2010
• Sky - Countryside Channel, "Talking Threads", September 2009
• Wellcome News, "Designs for Life Update", April 2007
• Oxfordshire Life, "Life's Rich Tapestry", Featured Artist February 2007
• BBC Oxford, Oxford Inspires, Radio Interview, 2007
• Trends in Textile Technology, Hazel King, 2007
• Embroidery "Designs for Life", November 2006
• Oxfordshire Limited Edition, "A Stitch in Time", August 2006
• Workbox, "Machine Embroidery with Anne Griffiths", Februrary 2005
• The Encylopedia of Machine Embroidery, Val Holmes, 2004
• The Textile Directory, 2003-2005