POST-COVID-19 ERA exhibition artist | Ann Mechelinck

Enhanced, Hand-weaving and hand-stitching, various wools and yarns, 80x60cm, 2020

Being confined at home during the lockdown, I was given the time to refocus on the beauty of where I live — a rural area in West Cork, Ireland — and became, once again, inspired to explore natural forms and textures found in plant life in my immediate surroundings and neighbourhood.

In this series of work, tiny organisms and plants like moss and lichens became an inspiration and while looking for a way to explore and interpret their colours and textures, I learned how to stitch French knots and taught myself circular weaving by watching instruction videos.

I aim to create pieces that appear organic, uncovering the often un-seen or overlooked beauty and diversity in the undergrowth by using a variety of yarns and threads in different thicknesses and tactility, kept to a limited palette of mainly greens.

I like to hand-stitch or hand-weave. The slow pace and the repetitive movement of my hands become quite meditative and contemplative and often makes me withdraw in my own little world and thoughts, away from all the suffering that is surrounding us at the moment.

This work is all about going back-to-basics, to appreciate and embrace the small things in life, to appreciate nature and be inspired by her resilience and ability to regenerate.

Healing II, Hand-weaving and hand-stitching, various wools and yarns, 100 x 80 cm and 40 x 47 cm, 2020

Nature’s carpet, Hand-weaving and hand-stitching, various wools and yarns, 70 cm diameter, 2020

Coming from a traditional background where creative impulses were something to be pursued ‘on the side’, Ann spent decades working as an administrator.

It wasn’t until 2005, when she moved from Belgium to Ireland, that she slowly began to realise how deep she had repressed her genuine passions and how she longed to recapture and fulfil that childhood dream of becoming an artist. In 2009 she decided to stop waiting for the ‘right time’ and set off on her creative journey, studying an Arts, Crafts and Design course at McEgan College in Macroom, followed by a Professional Painting course at St. John’s College in Cork, to finally graduate in 2015 in Applied Arts — Textiles at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork.

Since 2017 she has been working full-time as a self-employed artist.

To visit the online viewing room on www.independentimage.org