As part of winning 2nd Place in the Hand & Lock Prize, I was interviewed by the lovely Jen Funk Weber. this is an exert from the article. Click the Box-Header to read the full interview:

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The Funk Files: Meet Sally Wilson (again!)

Posted on 25 May 2018by Jen Funk Weber

 

 

Every year, Hand & Lock organizes a competition for the prestigious Prize for Embroidery to promote the use of hand embroidery and to discover emerging embroidery talent. The 2017 brief invited entrants to ‘celebrate, let go, to let loose and indulge in childlike freedom, to celebrate history, global culture, sense of place, sense of identity, and to celebrate embroidery and life.’

 

London’s Bishopsgate Institute displayed entries from 32 finalists and hosted the final judging of the 2017 Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery.

 

 

Today we’ll meet the second-place winner in the Textile Open Category.

 

 

Name: Sally Wilson

 

 

Location: Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

 

 

The Competition

Describe your Hand & Lock entry:

 

 

CELEBRATION—Animaux de Fete (Party Animals)

 

 

The piece celebrates the exuberance of nature.

 

 

As with most celebrations, the piece begins with the pop of a champagne cork and plume of champagne exploding upwards to form the tree of life. Nestled in its midst are a bird, a bee collecting nectar from the tree’s blossom, a worm feasting on the tree’s fruit whilst an animal’s skull lays hidden in the tree’s deep tangled roots.

 

 

As the champagne reaches its greatest breadth a beautifully tiered cake emerges decorated with Royal icing surrounding the ‘Animaux de Fete’ coat of arms and the Hand & Lock insignia. The Party Animals burst free from the top of the cake; a Gadwall duck and hamster in partying mood, bathed in the glow of the candle lights.

 

 

The piece is created in a large arc to emulate the cycle of life, in the same manner, that the tree of life signifies birth, life and death. Droplets of bejeweled champagne drop down towards the champagne bottle and a small drunken mouse.

 

 

The surface is embellished with hand and machine embroidery, crochet, smocking and appliquéd recycled fabrics. It is finished with a variety of beads and vintage findings.