Kaffe Fassett The Power of Pattern at Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh 31st March 2023
Kaffe Fassett The Power of Pattern at Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh (from 31 March – 8 July 2023) celebrates the work of not only one of the world’s most iconic designers, but also the contributions made by close collaborators to what is now a globally recognised design brand that, like Kaffe Fassett’s own career, encompasses knitting, needlepoint, mosaic,
quilting, textile design and much more.
With a new film which features the artist discussing textile design with his long-time collaborators Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs, we get an insight into what has kept the designs of Kaffe Fassett both at the cutting edge of design whilst also being loved by so many people worldwide.
For many of us, colour is something that we all too often take for granted, and design can also be overlooked by too many of us as simply there in the background, somehow just coming into life on its own. For Kaffe and his production partners this is not how they see colour and design. For them, both are vital parts of their very existence and they understand both how important these elements are not only as expressions of different cultures throughout the world, but perhaps more importantly how both can have a direct impact upon the very emotions, even perhaps the physical well-being of the many people who love and buy Kaffe Fassett designs. When you have people who are using colour and design at such a fundamental level, the results can be magical, almost spiritual creations that now have almost a life force of their own.
Kaffe Fassett The Power of Pattern is a carefully curated exhibition that explores not only the many different creations that some of these fabric designs have been used for over the years (dresses, rugs, cushion covers to name only a few), but also the influence that these designs have had on other creatives, who sometimes have incorporated them into their own fabric and design artworks.
The main focus is of course on a large and impressive display of wonderful quilts with designs by Kaffe Fassett and other internationally known “quilters” who have been inspired by his use of colour and design over the years. Some of these quilt designs at first deceive the eyes from a distance. Some look more like paintings than quilts, and many more look deceptively simple only for closer examination to reveal that they are in fact often made up of many small pieces of fabric which has taken sometimes several years to bring the designer’s ideas to full fruition as a completed work of art.
It is comforting somehow to note from the short film that, in almost stark contrast to the high tech used to reproduce many of these designs for commercial use, Kaffe Fassett does not use a computer to design them; they are all created in an old traditional way, an artist with paper, paint and apparently endless creativity and love for the world of colour and design that he sees around him everywhere that he looks.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
quilting, textile design and much more.
With a new film which features the artist discussing textile design with his long-time collaborators Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs, we get an insight into what has kept the designs of Kaffe Fassett both at the cutting edge of design whilst also being loved by so many people worldwide.
For many of us, colour is something that we all too often take for granted, and design can also be overlooked by too many of us as simply there in the background, somehow just coming into life on its own. For Kaffe and his production partners this is not how they see colour and design. For them, both are vital parts of their very existence and they understand both how important these elements are not only as expressions of different cultures throughout the world, but perhaps more importantly how both can have a direct impact upon the very emotions, even perhaps the physical well-being of the many people who love and buy Kaffe Fassett designs. When you have people who are using colour and design at such a fundamental level, the results can be magical, almost spiritual creations that now have almost a life force of their own.
Kaffe Fassett The Power of Pattern is a carefully curated exhibition that explores not only the many different creations that some of these fabric designs have been used for over the years (dresses, rugs, cushion covers to name only a few), but also the influence that these designs have had on other creatives, who sometimes have incorporated them into their own fabric and design artworks.
The main focus is of course on a large and impressive display of wonderful quilts with designs by Kaffe Fassett and other internationally known “quilters” who have been inspired by his use of colour and design over the years. Some of these quilt designs at first deceive the eyes from a distance. Some look more like paintings than quilts, and many more look deceptively simple only for closer examination to reveal that they are in fact often made up of many small pieces of fabric which has taken sometimes several years to bring the designer’s ideas to full fruition as a completed work of art.
It is comforting somehow to note from the short film that, in almost stark contrast to the high tech used to reproduce many of these designs for commercial use, Kaffe Fassett does not use a computer to design them; they are all created in an old traditional way, an artist with paper, paint and apparently endless creativity and love for the world of colour and design that he sees around him everywhere that he looks.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com