A fashion and textile artist with a passion for paper. I have a BA Honours degree in Fashion and Textiles from St Martin’s School of Art, and after years of exploring various artistic avenues, I’ve returned to my roots. I make tiny paper clothes using a variety of types, from found and used papers through to specialist pieces and wrapping paper. The clothes are all hand and machine sewn and many of the images used, mostly from discarded books, are appliquéd on whilst others are left hanging on the sewn threads. I regularly incorporate small re-found objects on the clothes too. Sewing paper is very different from sewing fabric and I have developed a way to mould the dress/skirt forms after appliquéing them flat to get the fall and drape I require. Each piece of work is presented on an acrylic stand and these are displayed in Perspex cubes or glass domes. I love the world of miniature!
Annie Heyworth:
I think the inspiration for my paper dresses probably began during my childhood……My parents were both artists but pursued very different careers. My father was a fine artist, a talented and successful oil and watercolour painter. My mother was a creator in the true sense and I don’t believe there was anything she couldn’t make or create. When I was very young she made exquisite tiny mannequins for a shop window display in Oxford Street (London) and I was fascinated by these beautiful tiny and often strange creatures.When I was about nine years old I entered a competition at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood (which has just reopened as the Young V&A) with a three dimensional collage of a pedlar doll carrying a tray of wares and I won the first prize for my age group. I’d seen the doll in the V&A Museum and was totally captivated by it. I really believe that my paper dresses are part of a natural, if lengthy, journey that began back then.After finishing school and during my foundation year at St Martin’s School Of Art, I made a large collection of sewn sculptures and also many intricate and small plasticine figures. I was drawn to a world of ‘miniature’ even then.I went on to study Fashion and Textile Design at St Martin’s but during the three year degree course I became more interested in fashion illustration than designing. After graduateding I worked as both an illustrator for trade fashion magazines and as a freelance textile designer.My work has always involved creating and it has evolved and transformed many times over the years. However I went back into drawing, illustrating and portraiture several years ago and felt settled with this medium, or so I thought!My paper dresses were born from my innate need to work 3 dimensionally and they are a very fulfilling and rewarding diversion from the 2 dimensional world of drawing and illustration. I have loved returning to my sewing, pattern cutting and textile roots and I am also able to revisit the world of sculpture, fashion and miniatures so I could not be happier than I am now being surrounded by old books full of amazing images, re-found tiny childhood objects, threads, extraordinary papers from around the globe and my favourite scissors!I’m still drawing but the world of tiny dresses has totally captivated me and my head is constantly swimming with new ideas.
