Artist Statement

Allison James is an art quilter who makes wall hangings and textile art that is inspired by both natural and built environments. Her work uses bold colours and graphic designs to create dramatic pieces that catch the eye. Sometimes representational, but more often abstract, her work usually combines a variety of techniques – improvisational piecing, applique, machine quilting and hand embroidery - that come together to help define and refine each piece of work.

Allison is an active member of Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) where she has had work juried into global exhibitions. She is also a member of the international exhibiting group of textile artists – 20perspectives, (www.20Perspectives.com). This group exhibits regularly in different venues across Europe and the USA. Allison had her first solo exhibition last summer and had work displayed at different venues in Huddersfield and the Holme Valley as part of the WOVEN festival 2023.

Allison also belongs to Ecostitchers, an exhibiting group of textile artists based in and around the Peak District, which produces a wide variety of high quality and innovative textile art exploring environmental and climate change. As Ecostitichers, the group tries to work in as environmentally conscious and sustainable way as possible, using materials that they already have, repurposing, reusing, recycling and sharing amongst the group rather than simply buying new. Each member of Ecostitchers works independently and in different textile genres, but, inspired by a theme chosen for the year, they come together to create unique exhibitions of textile art that premier at Derbyshire Open Arts.