Our Artists

Nicola Henley

Nicola Henley is a fine artist based in the West of Ireland who specializes in large scale, one-off textile wallhangings and artworks for both exhibition and commission. Her work is inspired by the dramatic seas and changing light of the Atlantic coast and the sense of freedom of birds in flight.

After gaining a First Class B.A Honours degree in Fine Art/Textiles at Goldsmith’s college, London in 1984, she continued working as an artist, exhibiting widely in the U.K. Ireland, Australia, Japan, the U.S.A and Spain. She was born in Bristol, England and returned there after her degree to set up a studio, funded by the British Crafts Council. She built her reputation as a Contemporary Textile Artist from the UK before she took the big step of leaving the city life behind when she moved with her young family to Co. Clare in Ireland in 1991.

Exhibitions

Shows

2018

Lasting Impressions. Group exhibition. Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI) and Ruthin Crafts Gallery, Wales

Feb 2017

Spirits of the Sky, Timeless Textiles Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

2017

Halcyon Days. Group exhibition. Glor, Ennis. Ireland

Sept 2016

Croí – Group Exhibition, www.croiarts.com. The Origin Gallery, Dublin. Ireland.

2015

RDS National Crafts Awards, The William Smith O’Brien Perpetual Challenge Cup. Winner in category Established Embellished Textiles.

Feb 2015

Shorelines, Timeless Textiles Gallery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

June 2014

Elemental Dialogue, Enistymon Courthouse Gallery, Clare, Ireland

Feb 2013

Timeless Textiles Gallery, solo show. Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Nov 2012

Knit & Stitch Show. Crafts Council. RDS, Dubli

Jan 2012

Timeless Textiles Gallery, group show. Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Ongoing

‘Seascapes’ Crafts Council Touring Exhibition, Ireland

Nov 2011

Crafts Council, Knit & Stitch Show. RDS, Dublin

July 2011

Year of Crafts Exhibition. Group show. Glor, Ennis.

Aug 2008

Solo Exhibition. Grennan Mill, Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Oct 2007

SOFA, Crafts Council of Ireland. Chicago, USA

Sept 2006

Hibernia, solo show, Florida USA

Sept 2004

Glor, two person show. Ennis. Co. Clare

Sept 2003

Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

April 2003

Kenny Gallery, Two person show. Galway

May 2002

Guinness Gallery, Dublin. Ireland

Sept 2002

Mrua Gallery, Co. Clare, Ireland. Solo exhibition

Apr 2000

Contemporary Applied Arts, London, England

Apr 2000

Guinness Gallery, Dublin, Ireland. Two person exhibition

Apr 1999

Primavera, Cambridge, England. Solo exhibition

Dec 1998

Hibernia, Florida, USA

May 1998

Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan. Solo exhibition

July 1997

Barcelona, H-I-P-O-TESI, Spain. Solo exhibition

May 1997

Guinness Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

May 1996

Oxford Gallery, Oxford, England

Mar 1996

Craftworks, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Nov 1995

Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

Aug 1995

‘Ireland on the Inside’, Craftworks, Belfast, N. Ireland

July 1995

Summer Show, Contemporary Applied Arts, London, England

June 1995

Textile Show, Newbury Arts Workshop, Oxford, England

Dec 1994

Christmas Show, Contemporary Applied Arts, London, England

Dec 1994

Christmas Show, H.Q. Gallery, Craft Council of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Oct 1994

Crafts Council Shop at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England

Aug 1994

Contemporary Applied Arts, Summer Show, London, England

Aug 1994

The Fibre Show, Galway Arts Centre, Ireland

July 1994

Textiles Exhibition, Bury St.Edmunds Museum, England

Mar 1993

‘Visions of Craft’, Crafts Council of Ireland, Ireland

Mar 1993

Royal Festival Hall, Craft Gallery and Shop, London, England

Nov 1992

Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan. Solo exhibition

Sept 1992

‘Out of the Frame’, Crafts Council Gallery, London

Feb 1992

Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool, Cologne/Liverpool Exchange

Nov 1991

‘Natural Resources’ Irish Crafts Council H.Q.Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

Oct 1991

‘The Decorative Beast’ British Crafts Council gallery, London, England

Apr 1991

Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh. Scotland

Spring 1991

Christies Showrooms, London, England. Annual Crafts Auction

Oct 1990

Oxford Gallery, Oxford. England. Solo exhibition

July 1990

Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan. Solo exhibition

Oct 1989

Cirencester Workshops, Cirencester, England. Solo exhibition

Sept 1989

Plymouth Arts centre, Plymouth, England

July 1989

Scottish Gallery Edinburgh, Scotland

June 1989

Contemporary Applied Arts, London, England. Solo exhibition

Mar 1989

Bristol old Vic, Coopers Gallery, Bristol, England. Solo exhibition

Nov 1988

Bluecoat display Centre, Liverpool, England

Oct 1988

‘Contemporary British Crafts’ National museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan

Jan 1988

National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan

Apr 1987

‘Wall to Wall’ Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, England

Oct 1986

‘Stitched Textiles for Interiors’ Royal Institute for British Architects, London

Sept 1986

Holthaus Gallery, New York, USA

Mar 1986

Courcoux and Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, England. Two Person Show.

Aug 1985

‘Wall-hung Textiles’ British Crafts Centre, London, England

Feb 1985

‘Material evidence’ Camden Arts Centre, London, England

July 1984

Christies Inaugural, Christies Showrooms, London, England

About her Work

Her textile pieces are made by a combination of dying, painting with pigments and screen-printing onto cotton calico and then texturing the surface with various materials, using hand and machine stitch.

She starts the piece by dyeing large pieces of calico and transferring drawn and painted images onto silk-screens using a photographic process. The screens and parts of screens are then used to build up layers of images through repeatedly printing and painting the surface of the dyed calico. Sometimes working from both sides of the cloth, subtle textures and colours are built up to create a surface of sequential marks, describing movement and a sense of three-dimensional space. After the printing/painting stage, the fabric is steamed, washed and dried and areas of the surface are selected for dense, textural work. She uses machine and hand stitch to apply fragments of Japanese paper, ‘found’ paper (which I hand print), dyed muslin and sometimes bits of silk.

Large, spacious areas of printed and painted surface contrast with small stitched details, representative of delicate birds in their wild natural environment and the contrast between intricate ornithological detail and the vast expanse of surrounding space.

Collections

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
XL Group, Dublin, Ireland

Cunard Cruise Company (P&O), U.K.

Microsoft Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

British Rail, St Pancras Office, London, England

British Crafts Council, London, England

Embroiderers Guild, London, England

Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan

Galerie Pousse, Tokyo, Japan

The Rock Shop, Co. Clare, Ireland

1985 – 2016: Private Collections, worldwide

GRANTS & AWARDS