Dharma Taylor's Materials Speak exhibition explores memory and the narrative of objects, with a particular focus on textiles.
Materials Speak is an exhibition featuring the work of Dharma Taylor - a multidisciplinary artist with a background in fashion design and textiles, who is fascinated by process and making.
Taking place until the end of April at 16 John Islip Street, in London's Chelsea, this new show comprises a "personal exploration of memory and the narrative of objects, with a particular focus on textiles".
Working in collaboration with rug making specialists Christopher Farr, Dharma focused on the history of tapestry for this project, looking at how textiles have been used by diasporic communities in fashion, design and architecture to build identity and belonging in new places.
The rug design, titled ‘Woodgrain', is "inspired by a memory of a wooden coffee shipping container my dad unfurled on the living-room floor. I remember the shapes and patterns in the folds in the box which created a series of geometric shapes and sections that formed the bases of my new design.
"For this rug production, I immersed myself into research and materiality focusing on using only one hue of natural undyed fibre to illustrate the design using 100% pure wool."
Dharma switches medium between clothes, prints, furniture and woven textiles, alongside a teaching post held at Central St Martins. Since graduating from the London College of Fashion, her work has been shown by a variety of national and international galleries including the V&A, Tate Britain and Benaki Museum in Athens.
