Much of Ali Holloway’s work starts with a walk and an exploration of the layers of human experience that have been imprinted over time on a particular landscape. These walks along the River Lea, out along the Thames estuary and urban walks through London all are intended to discover and uncover the traces left behind by the past and to respond in material form. Woven pieces are then made to recall the colours, shapes, textures, moods and the rhythm of the journey.
Walking lends itself to the act of weaving; the rhythmic movement of putting one foot in front of the other corresponds to the rhythmic traverses of the shuttle going back and forth. In this mechanical act the progress of a thread can be followed as it travels across the warp on the loom, back and forth, under and over, slowly revealing a bigger picture.
In this way, through the making of cloth, the physical act of walking can be made material. Holloway attempts to explore the idea that a piece of cloth like a journey and a story has a beginning, middle and end and in its creation woven cloth can be embedded with this notion of narrative.
