Lizzie Kimbley is a textile artist and designer based in Norfolk. She works with woven textiles, natural dyes and basketry techniques to create contemporary artworks for galleries and interior spaces. She explores responsible design and connection to place and nature with a materials-led approach to research and making.
Walking and connection to place often form the narrative behind Lizzie’s work. Walking in the beautiful Norfolk landscape, Lizzie gathers plants for natural dye and basketry work. Materials such as daffodil, crocosmia and sweet flag leaves are gathered, dried and made into cordage that is woven into textured nest-like forms and wall pieces using basketry techniques such as cordage, looping, random weave and twining. Working from a particular place, most recently Blickling Hall in Norfolk, Lizzie enjoys the immersive and meditative qualities of walking and being in nature, and seeks to capture this in her work.
Conscious of the volume of waste sent to landfill each year, and the need to value our natural resources, Lizzie explores responsible textiles and circular design using low-impact processes and only natural materials. She often works with locally found materials or those re-purposed from other design processes collaborating with local designer-makers to use their ‘waste', and seeking to encourage questions about the value we place on materials.
Since completing an MA in Textile Design in 2019, Lizzie has been selected for the Crafts Council’s Hothouse programme (2020), shortlisted for the Fine Art Textiles Award (2020) and awarded Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice funding (2021). Lizzie is a part-time Lecturer in Textile Design at Norwich University of the Arts.
