Maggie Dunne

This bookwrap is a collection of text, poetry, images suggesting the secrecy of new life or journey. It is unfinished at present.

Penelope was created at a workshop at Compton Verney led by Alice Kettle. The work was inspired by the Exhibition The Fabric of Myth. We choose one piece of art in the exhibition as our starting point, mine was a small embroidered picture of Penelope from the Greek myth Odysseus. Penelope weaves her a plot to retain her own memory of Odysseus by weaving and unpicking a shroud of her fathers, only she will remarry when it is complete. This wall hanging was supposed to be a bag, one side figurative the other side abstract.

This book wrap was created at a workshop at Compton Verney under the instruction of Textile Artist Angie Hughes. This piece was made by tearing different fabrics up and then weaving them back together to make the base layer. We then choose printing blocks to form words and images. Layers of Organza are place over the printing and finished off with Embroidery. The words used in this piece are taken from the song Summertime and my intention was to convey the feeling of summer by the use of colour and texture. Summertime never became a book wrap but a wall hanging instead .

I take off my dress, 2008.

The Honey Trap, 2008. The Honey Trap (Detail)

Still Life, 2008. (Detail)

Riding Habit, 2008.

The Captains Daughter, 2008.

To have and to hold, 2008.

Ballet Series, 2007.

The Ballet Series was a progression from the leather shoe, having been trained as a dancer, I always wondered what made the Pointe shoes so hard. Taking the shoes apart I found different flowering forms and decided to treat the Ballet shoe as though it were a flower, from being a bud, into full bloom.

Ballet Series, 2007. (Detail)

Ballet Dancer, 2007.

Ballet Dancer was created from the remnants of the Ballet Series. The idea was to give the feeling of movement and rhythm using the sole of the shoe wrapped with netting and elastic.

Untitled, 2007.

Clams, 2007.

These pieces came about by exploring the different forms that could be made with the Pointe shoe and then by covering it with wax it became more sensuous. At this point in time I had been reading books on shells and sea life and even bought a crab (dead of course) to photograph and take apart.

The 3 wise Monkeys, 2006. (Detail)

The idea of using shoes in these pieces was purely because I wanted a cheap source material to create the skin of the monkeys faces. As I took the shoes apart I became more interested in the textures and markings and the way in which the shoe had been made particularly the bespoke shoe. I decided to incorporate some of craftsman materials and workmanship into the finish piece.