Kendall Clarke is an artist and maker who works with woven textiles and natural dyes. She creates work for exhibition and to commission. Kendall uses painting, mark-making, erasure and other techniques during the process of weaving to produce structurally-complex, multi-layered works in two and three dimensions. Her practice is driven by materials exploration and experimentation, and she has a particular interest in paper yarns.
Kendall often subverts the inherent properties of her chosen materials, creating translucent constructions from metallic yarns, or stiff, papery surfaces from soft cotton. Many of her pieces contain piercings, apertures or gaps, which create dynamic light and shadow play, but also suggest precariousness and fragility. Her work, informed by the simple beauty of Japanese craft, is characterised by fineness and detail derived from a love of subtlety and nuance.
Kendall is interested in the histories of writing and language, and of textile cultures and techniques, particularly those of Japan. Her background in languages led to an interest in ancient texts and the partial and random nature of the fragments that survive. This is reflected in her particular interest in the materials of paper and ink, and in her multi-layered pieces that embody concepts of fragility and survival. Recent work has used a subdued palette to explore written relics, but she is also an experienced dyer and develops her own sustainable colours from natural sources.
Kendall gained an MA with distinction in textiles from UCA Farnham in 2019.
