ATELIER
Weftfaced.
Caron Penney
Tapestries | Biography | News
Caron Penney’s tapestries are grid locked. A love of pattern, systems, and repetition are central to her hand woven textiles. At the core of her work are references to street architecture and structural comparisons between the warp and the weft. Surrounded by pattern, the urban landscape feeds Penney’s interest in humanity. Penney’s ideas develop through observation, photography, sketches and the resulting tapestries.
She studied Constructed Textiles at Middlesex University, graduating with a BA (Hons). After working as a professional weaver for twenty years she opened her own studio in 2013. She has been featured in House & Garden magazine in November 2017 and Crafts Magazine in July/Aug 2018. She was a selected artist for the Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition in 2014 and 2020 and has exhibited widely.
Penney uses the same limited range of materials traditionally used to make handwoven tapestry, worsted wool and gilt gold threads, with the addition of dyed cotton warp which edge the finely woven pieces. She has a deep understanding of hand woven tapestry techniques and her resulting tapestries continue to be embraced by the training she acquired as a professional weaver.
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Caron is a Directory Maker of the Crafts Council.
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Education
1999 - 2001 Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Portsmouth University
1990 - 1993 BA (Hons) Constructed Textiles, Middlesex University, London
1988 - 1989 Foundation Studies, Portsmouth Art College
Awards
2022 Arts Council for England - Project Grant
2021 Commended, Kate Derum Award, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, Australia
2021 Time, Space, Money, a-n the artist information company & the Arts Council for England
Selected Exhibitions
2021 Artefact, Chelsea Harbour, London
Crafting a Difference, SoShiro, London
Monochrome, Ruthin Craft Centre
Warp, Weft, Stitch, Thread, Gallery 57, Arundel
2020 Summer/Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts
The Potential of Pattern, Sunny Bank Mills Gallery, Pudsey, Leed
Platform: Threading Forms, London Art Fair
2019 Construct, Sunny Bank Mills Gallery, Pudsey, Leeds
Kate Derum Award (Selected Artist), Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, Australia
Modern Masters, International Trade Fair, Munich, Germany - Represented by Galerie
2018 Weaving New Worlds, William Morris Gallery, London
2017 Here and Now, Holburne Museum, Bath - MAC Arts Centre, Birmingham - National Centre for Craft and Design (touring exhibition)
2014 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts
2008 - 2009 Collect Art Fair
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Selected Publications
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2018 Caron Penney GRID LOCKED: Crafts Magazine: Isabella Smith
2017 Weftfaced: House & Garden Magazine: Emily Tobin
2017 Collecting Modern Tapestries: How to Spend it - FT: Jenny Dalton
2014 Authenticity and Replication: the ‘Real Thing’ in Art and Art Conservation. London: Archetype Publications
2011 Tapestry - A Woven Narrative, Black Dog Publishing
Collections
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Shipley Art Gallery
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