Fanny Gentle, one of our AIR Cycle 7 residents, has a sensibility of history and delicacy that infuses all of her work. Fanny has a successful career in commercial illustration, and she came to TAC to explore a fine art practice with her textile work. We’re so glad she did, because the work she has developed during the residency, creating garments that combine sewing, printing and embroidery to tell the story of her family’s history, are stunning. She shared some words with me about her art practice and more.
Photo by Fanny Gentle
On working as an illustrator and a fine artist: “I feel my two practices to be quite different. My textile practice is more fine art, based in thought and practice, whilst my illustration is more a commercial practice. I like it that way, enjoy working on them separately.”
On her first textile work: “In my first solo exhibition in 2008, I ended up using textiles sculptures alongside my paintings. I’ve always loved textiles, from patterns to quilting to clothing. It was something I’ve always wanted to pursue and explore on a deeper level. So when the residency at the Textile Art Center came up, I thought it was a perfect fit. I’m really interested in the history of clothes, and the stories they tell. They feel familiar and have a fragility about them, something I find super beautiful and interesting.
I always loved clothing as a mean of self expression, I love worn-in, vintage clothing with a history. I remember very early on going to the equivalent of Salvation Army in Sweden and picking things from there, one of the pieces being a bright, blue, leather jacket that I loved. For my final pieces for the residency, I’m working with garments as identity, the things we carry with us, a second skin. They are intended to be sculptural objects rather than something to wear. I’m working with family history. Through spoken word, written accounts, and pictures I trace my family history and look at how I identify with it.”
On making work based on her family history: “It’s something that I’ve been sitting on for a while, and it was time to make art about it. I find my family history to be quite complex, as most families are. I wanted to gain clarity. The more I work with it the more I realize that the stories are just so and I can appreciate them for what they are.”
On her time at TAC: “When I came to TAC I’d been working as a commercial illustrator for quite sometime. I wanted to reconnect to art and what it means for me to be an artist. I feel like I’ve done so. TAC has also given me some great tools and friends. It’s been such a great experience.”
