Artist Story: Melanie Kyles

Please give an introduction to yourself as an artist.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in the creative industries. I spent my childhood and teenage years meandering between art, craft and fashion, and it wasn’t until I’d graduated from my BA in Textiles and Surface Design at the age of 23, that I recognised my ambitions of becoming an artist as well as a slow fashion business owner.

In 2014, I launched my solo show, ‘Holier than Thou’, in Praxis Gallery, Newcastle, with the support and encouragement of Ampersand Inventions where the gallery and my studio were based. The exhibition included accessories I showcased at the previous Newcastle Fashion Week, and reworked vintage art plates from the 1920s, where I used hand embroidery, embellishment, enamel, and foil to alter their appearances, inspired by artists such as Maurizio Anzeri and Jose Romussi.

Through this, I came to realise creating contemporary artwork from materials more connected with fashion, such as fabric, crystal and thread was not only valid, but also relevant as many arts organisations including Vane were proactively addressing gender disparity and the reclaiming of gender-associated art mediums in galleries. Both my artwork and wearable pieces compliment and influence each other. For example, my ‘Liberty’ headbands use the same hand-crafted glass and crystal barbed wire as was first designed for one of my sculptures, and my popular bee brooches resulted in my Golden Preserve sculpture, blurring the lines between art and fashion.

How has coming from a design background influenced your practice?

I’ve adored fashion from a young age, and I was always drawn towards the aesthetics and attention to detail rather than trends. I was introduced to ELLE magazine at the age of 12, and I would pour over each issue from cover to cover, savouring the stunning editorials as well as the art features and book recommendations. During the mid-noughties, avant-garde fashion ruled the runway, and conceptual collections by the likes of Alexander McQueen and Viktor & Rolf really captured my imagination. They were producing wearable works of art, collections that had a clear narrative, as well as a high level of technical skill and fearless vision. Of course, the work I produce isn’t remotely like experimental haute couture collections. However, I was always fascinated by the skilled craftsmanship and storytelling aspects, which has since been personified through Chanel and Dior YouTube channels. The design and needlework skills I’ve developed over the years have directly benefited my artwork. I’m also very conscious of being resourceful with materials, as I’ve done a lot of studying into the sustainability of the fashion industry and the volume of material waste.

In my mid-teens, I began to take more of an interest in contemporary art and recognized how much crossover there was between high fashion and the art world. The collaboration of Dali and Schiaparelli, and Yves Saint Laurent’s famous Mondrian and Van Gogh garments, were the most obvious examples. However, creative collaborations have become increasingly more commonplace.

What role does embroidery play in your artwork?

With hand embroidery, I feel as though the possibilities are endless. It’s one of the oldest surviving crafts and it continues to grow, evolve, and remain relevant despite technological and digital advancements. Although textiles and craft-based artwork such as pottery or quilting are becoming more socially accepted in contemporary art spaces, embroidery is still overlooked in comparison to more traditionally prized artforms.

Material symbolism is an important part of my artwork, and with embroidery, it has symbolised so much over the years. It is used as a universal language and has a rich and fascinating history across the globe. Connotations of gender and social class are both heavily present in embroidery, and both are big themes in my work, so for me it’s the perfect technique to channel my ideas. My favourite technique to use is goldwork embroidery, which involves stitching with metal threads to create opulent, jewellery-like embellishments. Traditionally, it was carried out in gold and silver, and was strictly worn by royalty or military members to signify their position in the hierarchy. The more heavily decorated you were, the more important, and its light-reflective properties would make this apparent even on the battlefield. I like to play on this idea of goldwork embroidery signifying a higher value and have used it to reflect the importance of our natural ecosystem and local heritage.

Are there any other techniques or materials characteristic to your work?

I love to juxtapose the opulent, delicate, and feminine qualities of goldwork embroidery and hand embellishment with more masculine, industrial metals such as brass or steel. My father Garry is an experienced welder, and I have often collaborated with him on sculptures I’ve exhibited with Vane and Ampersand Inventions. As with the embroidery having connotations of gender and social class, the steel work that my father produces also has heavy, albeit opposing, connotations of gender, social class, and industry. It’s very much part of my family heritage and our wider Northern heritage, so it plays an important part in my creative expression.

One of my favourite techniques to use is creating barbed wire and chicken wire from scratch, so that I can build it up using glass bugle beads and crystal. It was initially inspired by the unfair responsibility placed on women when it comes to our safety. We are judged if we’re perceived as unattractive, however we’re also expected to be responsible for our own physical boundaries where ‘men are unable to control themselves’. The femininity and beauty of the light-reflecting materials along with the functional purposes of barbed wire and chicken wire highlight this complex issue and impossible standard.

In addition to contrasting delicate metal embroidery work with heavy welding, I also like to combine it with more natural materials such as paper and wood. Not only does this offer a beautiful tactile contrast, but also represents the manmade and the natural world co-existing. Sustainability is a big part of my creative practice and I consider the ethics and resourcefulness of everything I produce. I’m a terrible hoarder, and I have an eclectic collection of items to be turned into sculpture, including an old metal fire guard and a 1960s cream bike helmet that used to belong to my grandfather!

Who else has influenced your artwork?

There are so many people and groups that have shaped the way I work and my creative direction, so it’s difficult to narrow down as everyone I work with impacts me one way or another. Somebody who has really encouraged me to think outside of the box is Orbis Community director, Jonpaul Kirvan. It was through his persistent support that I eventually accepted myself as an artist. I’d trained for years in design and was working with fabrics, so for a long time I struggled to see myself as an artist rather than a designer. We’ve collaborated on a few pieces, along with Nick Christie from Incubate Experimental Printmaking, on an embroidered cyanotype that was gifted to Jeremy Corbyn when he visited the building we all worked in, and a metallic printed and embellished illustration of Northern Goldsmiths jewellers. I love the creative energy generated by collaborating with others and creating something unique – there’s something particularly special about that. Often when I’m working on commissions, even that is a collaboration of sorts as I’m combining my style of working with my client’s vision, which tends to be of a similar taste.

There have been people that have supported me throughout my education, from my school art teacher Colin Turnbull, who took the time to educate me in art history outside of teaching hours, to Adeline Clarke and Sarah Jayne Claydon of Newcastle College, showing me that textiles could be an extremely creative and versatile career path. Two organisations that have also had a notable impact on my creative practice are Hand & Lock and Fashion Revolution.

Hand & Lock is an embroidery company based in London that was founded in 1767. I discovered them through their annual international prize for embroidery, and that massively challenged my perceptions of embroidery being ‘crafty’ or ‘too traditional’. The work that they were carrying out and embroidery submissions for the prize were very forward thinking in their approach, and embraced technology, sustainability and pushing creative boundaries. They helped me recognise the value in waste materials and that almost anything could be elevated in value with some carefully applied needlework.

My interest in sustainability led me to studying the ethics and social impact of fashion, and this coincided with the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, killing 1,134 garment workers in 2013. The event affected me greatly and gave me a heightened sense of responsibility when considering my own fashion business. Fashion Revolution is an organisation that formed in response to the factory collapse, and I’ve since taken part in several of their events as well as hosting a festival for Fashion Revolution Week. I’ve also been lucky enough to connect with Hand & Lock directly as a prizegiving guest, which has introduced me to incredible embroidery artists across the globe.

If you were to choose five people to invite to a ‘stitch and bitch’, who would they be?

In addition to artwork and commissions, I regularly host workshops either through local organisations or independently (where possible, as my new studio is still a work in progress!). I love the more informal classes I run and the synergy of the groups that organically come together, and the natural social element that comes with it. If I were to invite anyone in the world to a social sewing get-together, other than my regular guests of course, I would have to choose Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Michaela Coel, Louis Theroux, Jonathan Van Ness and Miriam Margolyes.

If you had to choose between art and fashion, what would you choose and why?

It’s impossible to choose! They both bring such joy; both can be used as a force for change and tell a story of the context in which they were made. Fashion is wrapped in self-identity, self-expression and has the power to transform your mood. It communicates to the outside world who you are before you’ve opened your mouth to speak, and it’s something we all engage with on a daily basis whether we’re conscious of it or not. Art on the other hand, is less functional but that’s part of the beauty of it – the fact it serves a purpose, holds real value, but doesn’t always have a tangible function.

What advice would you give to young aspiring artists?

For emerging artists, one of the main hurdles I would say is finances. It takes a lot of time and hard work to make a living from your artwork alone, so you need to utilise your skills in whatever way you can. There’s also no shame in having a part-time job to support your creative practice, it’s something I have done for years and know many others who have too. Having some form of consistent income can alleviate some of the pressure, so you can make the artwork you want, rather than compromising and selling yourself short. We’re often encouraged to find our niche, and for some people that works well, however, for me it had the opposite effect. I really struggled to narrow my focus to just one thing, and that showed up when I struggled to stick to certain products in my business.

There is so much crossover in creative disciplines, and it’s also completely normal for creative people to enjoy more than one creative outlet. There is no set path on becoming successful, and what works for one person may not work for another. In the long term, having more strings to your bow makes you more adaptable, and more likely to succeed in the long run!

Do you have any particular memories of your experience of working with Vane?

I’ve been lucky enough to work with Vane on several projects, but the main highlights for me have to include exhibiting at ArtHelix, Brooklyn, with Ampersand Inventions and facilitated by Vane (‘Off the Map’, 2016), and curating an international exhibition of 22 artists for the gallery to mark International Women’s Day (‘WO/’, 2018). Paul and Chris have been instrumental in developing my skills and confidence when it comes to both becoming a practicing artist and also in curating and managing exhibitions, from formatting a press release to installing artwork to professional gallery standards. I am regularly represented by them at The Manchester Contemporary art fair, having sold my artwork at the last stall, and have ‘taken over’ the gallery and Instagram account on more than one occasion!

I have so many fond memories of attending Vane’s exhibition previews, especially those featuring bold and colourful sculptures, or those with a fashion influence, and this is something I missed terribly over lockdown. Living and working in Newcastle/Gateshead means our local art scene is quite compact in comparison to larger cities. What I love about preview evenings is that there is often a lot of mingling between art collectives and creative individuals, and I’ve made friends as a result of this. Not only does art connect with people, but it also connects us with each other, which emerging from two years of lockdowns and current world events, cannot be overestimated.

Read more about Melanie Kyles’ exhibitions at Vane.