The 80ft long textile was the starting point for Clarke and Reilly’s exhibition. It was made up of pieces collected from the English and French countryside, spanning three centuries.

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After using them as a backdrop in their last presentation, AD2021, Clarke & Reilly placed them in three different locations in the Californian countryside to weather them.

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(image Courtesy of Clarke and Reilly)

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The utilitarian and functional element of the fabric drew me in and the old repairs in them showed a thoughtfulness that was very beautiful to me. They were then dyed by the design duo using indigo and traditional dyeing techniques.

After seeing the fabric in the space I drafted a pattern based on archival workwear t-shirts. The Pattern was then drawn out onto the fabric and all of the pieces were cut. That was done in a way to use up as much of the fabric as possible. A number of the remaining scraps were used to create a one-off patchwork 'low-vis' vest which I designed and sewed by hand.