Stephanie Neville

(click here for her artwork)

The underlying premise of Neville’s work expresses a feminine sensitivity. Her developing interest in textile arts explores mediums such as embroidery, stitching, knitting, felting and soft sculpture. The process of documenting featured in Neville’s work, simulates a concern with memory, time, absence and loss.

Neville uses site-installations by way of ‘yarn bombing’ and ‘wrapping’ the trees with colourful wool, mimicking the emotions of care, nurturing and protection related to the technique of knitting. This process is photo-documented. Photographs are transferred to cotton and hand & machine stitched with thread. The stitching translates caring for the environment, yet also the fragility and eventual destruction by human hand. The resin cast ‘water bubbles’ encase found objects from the mangroves, documenting the destruction and acting as a method of preserving. The technique of felting requires a lot of water and hand processing. The felted soft sculpture signifies the human interaction needed to preserve the beauty and uniqueness of the mangroves landscape.

South African artist Neville (b. 1973) recently completed a MA in Visual Arts at the University of South Africa, winner of an Excellence Award and Merit Award at two student exhibitions. Living in the UAE since 1999, Neville has had various group and solo exhibitions in the country.

http://www.stephanieneville.com