Spanish City, Whitley Bay Exhibition
Our current exhibition at Spanish City, Whitley Bay celebrates the work of North East artist Emma Peach and is available to view inside the Spanish City until May 19th 2024.
Emma Peach is a Northumbrian Textile Artist and dedicated beachcomber who stitches decorative coastal pieces. She is passionate about the environment and aims to reduce waste as she creates.
Emma uses old denim or suiting as a backing canvas to her work and enjoys embellishing this with a collage of recycled and repurposed fabrics which are manipulated then attached with machine or hand embroidery.
Her characterful Puffin Portraits are a proud nod to our visitor who returns to find their mate each year on the nearby Coquet and Farne Islands. For these, Emma uses marine materials such as neoprene wetsuit offcuts and found fluorescent fishing line. These are blended with repurposed ribbons. The Puffins are all about the beak!
The Crabby collection have a variety of beach combing finds, such as face masks discarded in the pandemic, included in each piece. The face masks have been decorated with free machine embroidery to emulate the swirling water of a rock pool and offer an opportunity for discussion.
In the Rockpool series the viewer is invited to imagine peering into the mini marine world as they look at the work. Emma has even burnt some materials to create the texture of certain seaweeds. Her research was done through a childhood of summers spent at Bamburgh, scrambling around Stag Rock.
The final collection has a more sophisticated feel with its monochrome palette. These textile works were inspired by the ever changing patterns of the sand left by the tide and the occasional gift of a shell sprinkled with some ‘micro plastic’ beading.
All work can be purchased either via our website on in person at our shop at the Spanish City.