Caron Penney (b. 1970, Southampton) is a British artist specialising in wall based handwoven tapestry. She received her BA in Constructed Textiles at Middlesex University in 1993. Her work has been nationally and internationally exhibited including shows at David Parr House (Cambridge), Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery (Petersfield), Somerset House (London), Royal Academy of Arts (London), Australian Tapestry Workshop (Melbourne), amongst others. She has been a selected artists for Collect Open an initiative of the Crafts Council, she has been awarded an Arts Council Grant for her project ‘The Red Line’ for the Collect Art Fair. Penney has work in private and public collections including the Rumi Foundation. Her work has been featured in House & Garden, Selvedge Magazine, Rosa Magazine, Embroidery Magazine.

 

Penney is a master weaver and works from the studio of Atelier Weftfaced, which she opened in 2013. She has worked with many artists over her 30 year career including Jacqueline Poncelet, Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, Gillian Ayres, Bill Jacklin, Marta Rogoyska and many others. From 2001 - 2012 she led the Historic Scotland project to recreate the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries for Stirling Castle. 

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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

 

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

 

2025  

 

Focus 25, The Longer View, Chelsea Harbour,  London with Cavaliero Finn Gallery

 

The Anonymous Line, London Art Fair with Cavaliero Finn Gallery

 

Picking Up the Thread, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh 

 

2024  

 

House Guests, David Parr House, Cambridge

 

Language of Weaving, Petersfield Museum & Art Fair

 

2023  

 

Collect Art Fair, London

 

British Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London

 

Elemental Lines, Ballroom Arts, Aldeburgh 

 

2022  

 

Collect Open Selected Maker, Crafts Council, Somerset House, London

 

Harmony & Dissonance, Kevis House Gallery, Petworth

 

Artefact, Chelsea Harbour, London

 

2021   

 

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, Leeds

 

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 Handwerk 

 

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 

 

 

Collections

 

Rumi Foundation

 

Shipley Art Gallery

 

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Awards

 

2026

Sussex Craft Award - Winner

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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

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Selected Press & Publications

 

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