During Fabrications, Harriet Riddell will cycle along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, pulling her sewing machine in a trailer behind her, inviting local people who use the canal on a daily basis to jump on the bicycle and pedal to create electricity and power the sewing machine. Harriet will then stitch portraits of the people and the canal life onto locally woven textiles. Follow Harriet’s journey via social media (Facebook and @superslowway) and see the outcomes of her residency exhibited as part of the Fabrications Exchange on the 29th & 30th Sept.
Travel and freedom are essential themes in Harriet’s work which are represented in the journey made to create the work, as well as the how the needle travels freely over her canvas. Harriet uses her bicycle as a generator and will ask people she meets to pedal to generate electricity for her sewing machine. She will then stitch portraits of the ‘pedallers’ and the landscape around them onto the back of cotton shirts. The canals history, peoples’ stories and Harriet’s journey will be weaved into each shirt using a continuous one line thread drawing. The art-works will be exhibited at the Fabrications Exchange on the 29th and 30th of September.
