Conversation with Ehryn Torrell
Doctoral Researcher at Loughborough University and Visual Artist
What are you excited about right now?
Collaboration! I received a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to create a new body of work with exciting collaborators. The project is based on collages I make with imagery torn from the pages of British Vogue. The collages feature fragmented glimpses of female bodies, luxury goods and garments. Using digital processes, the collages are transformed into linen and silk textiles. The linen textiles are tapestry-like and feature handwork, machine embroidery, as well as digital embroidery designed in collaboration with Andrew Kenny at London Embroidery Studio. The silk is like a prompt which is igniting improvised, somatic inquiry. Later this year, I will work with a dancer-choreographer to turn the material into costume, prop and set design for a set of performances. Stay tuned via Instagram @ehryntorrell
What advice would you give to women starting in the art world?
Be clear about what you want to explore and excel at so that you can enjoy good work, find your people, uphold the value of your labour and be able to recognise when opportunities are not actually part of your game plan.
Which female artist, living or dead, would you invite to a fantasy dinner party and why?
It would have to be multi-disciplinary artist Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979), a key figure in the Parisian avant-garde who worked in painting, graphics, textiles, interiors, fashion and costume design. Over great food and wine, we would discuss colour, artistic invention and collaboration. I would relish in her stories of working with the Ballets Russes, self-branding in early 20th century Paris and what it was like to see her own retrospective at the Louvre at the age of 79.