Marcia Bennett-Male is a sculptor and stone carver and will have her first solo exhibition of textiles work at The Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, London from 6th-9th October and Harrogate Convention Centre from 17th-20th November 2022.
Marcia, we are honoured that you have chosen The Knitting & Stitching Show for the very first exhibition of your textile art. As a sculptor and stone mason, what made you want to work with the very different medium of textiles?
I am returning to textiles. I went to art college with a textile and print portfolio. Before that, I was studying theatre wardrobe. I discovered the stone yard at college. I had always been curious about what seemed like a very elitist medium. I kept printing and took to the physical / meditative practice of carving.
Your first solo textiles exhibition, Moments to Myself, explores the challenge of finding time to fully be ourselves. What was the inspiration for this body of work?
The inspiration is ongoing, it’s my life, my observations, reading up on black women in history. I rediscovered from my portfolio the cut-out-cartoon-like figure that I now use. After a period of time, I realised that I had built up a body of work. The textiles were in a pile on my old bed, stored at my mother’s house.
Your work is characterized by symbols that represent both your Afro-Caribbean heritage and England where you were born, brought up and live, from chintz, florals and the Union Jack to The Blue Bird of Happiness, Minstrel’s Smile and distinctive Dutch/African wax print fabrics. Is there conflict between these elements in your art?
I wouldn’t call it conflict, not within my artwork. The motifs and the ‘shorthand’ I use with my choice of fabrics I regard as tools.
You have studied and trained in European and ecclesiastical embroidery, with embroidery featuring prominently in your work. But you have said that “as a textile artist, I’m not interested in a multitude of intricate stitches and techniques. For me, getting the image out of my head as quickly as possible to view is more important.” Can you tell us more about that and why that immediacy is so important?
Once I had found the medium to help me vent, the imagery and titles for them came pouring out. One textile would be started whilst another image had to be drawn. The ideas would and do leapfrog over each other for execution. My very first piece called ‘Happy Pills’ was worked in appliqué with Long & Short Stitch, and I sometimes have to use beadwork in a textile. If I do it’s because it’ll really make the textile ‘pop’. But I do it reluctantly because it slows me down. However, I don’t do any machine work. I need / enjoy the meditative action of hand sewing.
The Black female experience is at the heart of much of your textile work, including the exploration of aspects of mental health and self-worth. How important is making art to your own mental health and wellbeing?
Fundamentally important! Many of my textiles depict my experiences, and they have been bottled up for most of my life apart from when I was having therapy. Seeing my experiences and thoughts out in physical form is a great release. Using my cut-out figure softens the sharper topics that I cover.