An association of Cornwall's finest craft makers
SELECTED MAKER
Kennedy, Wai-yuk
Jewellery / Textiles
Hello. My name is Wai-Yuk (pronounced sort of “why-yook”). I grew up in Hong Kong but have now lived most of my life in England; specifically rural North Cornwall.
Though I studied painting at Art College, my first love has always been working with textiles. I love making everything from clothes to curtains but now spend most of my time creating my textile artworks, either to wear or to hang on the wall.
My technique usually starts with producing the fabric I will use; assembled from layers of different materials which are stitched, distressed and reworked until I achieve the colourful surface I desire. My shapes are then cut out from this material, and then go through a varied process that includes embroidery, twisting, hand-stitching and embellishment until I achieve a result I am happy with.
Inspiration for my forms comes from many sources, not least the twisted, folded rock formations found on my local North Cornwall coast. Another significant inspiration, which I have only gradually become aware of, is Chinese calligraphy. Not so much the activity of writing, more the character forms themselves; the way lines start, end and turn.