Freddie Robins
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Comfort Creatures | Knitted Homes of Crime | Banner |
Statement:
My awareness of textiles came through “Janie”, a rag doll made for me by my Aunt. Janie’s orange wool hair was a great comfort to me, I would tickle my nose with it. Her hair would gradually wear out and my Godmother would give her a new lot, always wool, always orange.My Godmother became my greatest inspiration. She was always making things, not frumpy, lumpy things that you hid in your wardrobe, but fashionable, desirable toys and clothes. She was a free spirit. She lived alone, was unmarried and just got on with her own thing. I associated textiles with her and therefore with freedom. I loved the “Clangers”, they were knitted. My Godmother taught me to knit, it was difficult, she was left handed. I loved knitting. I was further inspired by the knitwear designer, Patricia Roberts. She did not rely upon traditional textile images, wholesome flowers, but turned instead to the contemporary urban world for inspiration. She was bold. I entered a knitwear design competition in a craft magazine. I won. I was academic but I was also creative. I knew which path I would follow, the one that represented individuality.
My studio practise questions conformity and notions of normality, and intersects the categorisation of art and craft. I use knitting to explore pertinent contemporary issues of the domestic, gender and the human condition. I find knitting to be a powerful medium for self-expression and communication because of the cultural preconceptions surrounding it. My work subverts these preconceptions and disrupts the notion of the medium being passive and benign. My ideas are expressed through an exploration of the human form and have resulted in pieces such as “Odd Gloves” and “Odd Sweaters”. These series question physical normality incorporating both humour and fear. The titles are important. I like to play on words to make visual suggestions: ”Hand of Good, Hand of God” and “Skin - a good thing to live in”. In “Anyway” I explore value and scale through the production of a large knitted sculpture made on CAD controlled industrial machinery.
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