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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