Fragmentation and Repair: for Mixed-Media and Textile Artists

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

Fragmentation and repair are two of the biggest buzzwords in textile and mixedmedia art, and in this fascinating and beautiful book renowned textile artist Shelley Rhodes explores both concepts, with a wealth of fresh ideas, practical advice and inspiring examples from her own work and from embroiderers around the world, including Debbie Lyddon and Alice Fox.

Fragmentation lies at the heart of Shelley’s work, and she shows how she deconstructs and reassembles cloth, paper and objects to create new pieces, incorporating found objects and materials she has 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. She also shows how larger pieces of work can be cut up and the 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, and 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 own work.