Maria Smith, Robyn Neild and Thurle Wright are artists with a combined wealth of experience locally and internationally. From different backgrounds (illustration, floristry and textiles), they have been drawn to work together through their shared love of texture and the natural environment and their wish to push the boundaries of their materials.

Maria works mainly in fibre, often hand spinning her own threads from paper or seaweed, and interweaving these with reclaimed and repurposed materials such as local grasses, shells, art magazines or clay, to create intriguing vessels, tapestries and objects. Her work is increasingly un-classifiable.

Robyn's focus is on exploring the limits of bronze casting. Her foraged brambles, bluebells, fungi, twigs or old fishermen's jumpers are turned into award-winning delicate, textural sculptures, using the lost wax technique. Robyn is heavily influenced by Dungeness; the other-worldliness of this place is often evident in her work. Inspired by the ancient ink between text and textiles.

Thurle starts with pages from novels, poems or dictionaries, cutting, weaving and embroidering with the lines of text as a way of re-crafting the original writer's process. Her works are often embellished with collected pebbles, chalk or seeds, both grounding them to place and celebrating their new purpose.

A shared open studio. Maria, Robyn and Thurle will be using  Openartfolke24 to work together in a shared space, exchanging materials, ideas and practice in a playful and experimental way as they continue to develop plans for an installation later in the year. 

They invite anyone curious about process-based practice, particularly those interested in language, craft and the natural environment, to come by and say hello! 

Samples of all their work will be available to touch, or even buy!

@robynneild, @mariasmithtextiles, @thurle.wright