Moira West

About Moira West

Working with felt, I am keen to introduce this amazing material to a wider audience through exhibition in galleries and alternative spaces. Emphasis is on creating texture through the structure and surface of felt work, showing a variety of felting techniques – the versatility of fibres providing the viewer, through interaction, with knowledge and information of life.

Simple designs, which at first belie the complexity of the fibres used, combine with contemporary fine art practice to create a range of textile art pieces. Fibres add lustre to enliven the matt wool, and are used to create intricate variations within my felts. Exploring plant and cellulose has added a further range of aesthetically pleasing and eco-friendly materials. 3D structures and wall sculptures evolve from recycled materials as I try to limit my impact on the environment, incorporating locally sourced animal, cellulose, and plant fibres.

Using wet felting techniques, I produce visually impactive felts, incorporating stitching, knotting, and weaving to produce extraordinary textured surfaces. Natural fibres predominate but these are manipulated to integrate with many other materials, thus creating the desired visual effect. Materials provide motivation for my work with felt – a wonderful, flexible and fascinating material. The amalgamation of nature and material has enabled me to give visual expression to my feelings, whilst also testing the boundaries of felt as my chosen medium.

Born in Leeds and a Lincolnshire resident since 1989, Moira studied at De Montfort University and the Open College of the Arts and was awarded a first class honours degree in Creative Arts. Her practice straddles the boundary between fine art and craft, exploring ideas through making.

• 3 Strand, 21st February – 6th April 2015, The Ropewalk, Maltkiln Road, Barton upon Humber, DN18 5JT
• Making Connections, solo exhibition, 5th – 17th August 2014, Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln
• Mac Gallery – 2nd – 31st January 2014 – 12a South Parade, Doncaster, DN1 2DY
• Lincolnshire Artists’ Society – Winter Show, 7th December 2013 – 5th Jan 2014,The Ropewalk
• Contemporary Crafts Network – Silver, 23rd July – 4th August 2013, Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln
• Lincolnshire Artists’ Society – Summer Show, 6 July – 1st Sept 2013, The Usher Gallery, Lincoln
• Contemporary Crafts Network – Spring, 16 March – 20 April 2013, Harding House, Lincoln
• Lincolnshire Artists’ Society – Winter Exhibition, 8 Dec – 3 Jan 2013, Stamford Arts Centre
• The Frame Room Gallery, 5 – 30 Dec 2012, Lincoln
• Rufford Crafts Centre Art Gallery – All That Glimmers… 20 Nov – 30 Dec 2012, Ollerton, Notts.
• Contemporay Crafts Network – Intimate, 2 Oct – 14 Oct 2012, Gallery at St. Martin’s, Lincoln

• Lincolnshire Artists’ Society – Summer Exhibition, 26 June – 8 July 2012, Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln
• Contemporary Crafts Network – Collections, 26 May – 24 June 2012, The Collection, Lincoln
• Caesura Exhibition (Patricia McMillan, Moira West and Linda Westerman), 3rd –  22nd Oct 2011,
  Carre Gallery,  29 Carre Street, Sleaford
• Contemporary Crafts Network – Erosion, 20th Sept – 1st Oct 2011, Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln
• Art on the Map, Open studio on 7th and 14th May 2011
• The OPEM, Selected Artist, 5 Feb – 3 May 2011, The Collection, Danes Terrace, Lincoln
• Sense of Felt, solo exhibition, 29 Sept – 10 Oct 2010, Gallery at St.Martin’s, 37b, Hungate, Lincoln
• Renew, Regenerate, Reinvent, touring exhibition, 5-18 April 2010, Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln
• Renew, Regenerate, Reinvent, touring exhibition, 30 Jan – 26 Mar 2010, Grantham Museum, Grantham
• Renew, Regenerate, Reinvent, touring exhibition, 14 Sept – 1 Oct 2009, Stamford Arts Centre
• Textile Duet (with textile artist Enid Mason), Nov 2007, Metheringham Fine Art Gallery
• Hand Made, April 2007, Grantham Museum, Grantham