Religious Icons | Textile Art

Welcome to Beneath The Folds, where Christine Cunningham explores the creativity of textile art, from inspiration to technique.

Religion has inspired artists throughout time such as Blake, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens. My favourite artwork is ‘The Annunciation’ by Fra Angelica. Capturing light in my textiles is inspired by the fragmented stained glass windows of old churches and candlelight. Creating the patchwork halo in ‘Mother and Child’ and the face of ‘Jesus’ (1 and 2) harks back to Sunday school.

MOTHER AND CHILD

Mother and Child’, inspired by Botticelli’s ‘The Madonna’, captures the maternal and everlasting love between a mother and child, expressed through the union of sculpted figures, housed in a halo of patchwork adorned in light reflective sequins.

Figures are stuffed and moulded to create a sculpted surface with a depth of six inches.

Mother and Child is a sculpted abstract image of Mary and baby Jesus adorned in a halo of patchwork and light reflective sequins — Sculpted figures sit before an altar of 3D flowers

JESUS 2

My series of ‘Jesus’ textiles were inspired by a charcoal drawing for my ‘A’ level exam.

CHARCOAL DRAWING OF CHRIST — Charcoal drawing of Christ, inspiring textiles of Jesus 1 and 2

‘Jesus 2’ has been reworked from it’s original condition to create a stained glass window set into the recess of old stone church walls, with stuffed patchwork panels created from vintage fabrics from my childhood.

Christine Cunningham - Jesus 2 - The flat applique face of Jesus is inset by padded panels created from vintage fabrics from my childhood. — The flat applique face of Jesus is inset by padded panels created from vintage fabrics from my childhood.

The flat applique face of Jesus is inspired by fragmented glass of old church windows.

Christine Cunningham - A flat applique face inset by silk and velvet roses — A flat applique face inset by silk and velvet roses

JESUS 1

‘Jesus 1’, sporting a huge 3D beard created from long layers of hessian strips, wool pompoms, corded plaits and tassels, beaded lengths and french knitting.

A halo of silk roses replaces the traditional crown of thorns.

Christine Cunningham - A halo of silk roses — A halo of silk roses

THE GATES OF HEAVEN

‘Angel Wings’ celebrates life, a cycle of birth and death, with emotional turbulence captured in an overcast sky (created from a dense carpet of tatty matting scraps) and a peep at the Garden of Eden (a panel of flowered vintage fabric from the halo of ‘Mother and Child’). The gates of Heaven are created from angels wings, padded structures adorned in 3D rose buds. The iridescent fabric was found in a charity shop in Camden, capturing the fleeting nature of time as light passes over the surface.

Christine Cunningham - A peep at The Garden of Eden — A peep at The Garden of Eden

An overbearing thunderous sky captures the emotional turbulence surrounding death, created from fabric scraps collected over a period of time. Our struggles to overcome adversity in life is captured in the delicate leaf detail of embroidered lace.

Christine Cunningham - A dense carpet of fabric scraps — A dense carpet of fabric scraps

Detail of an Angel’s Wing, padded structure adorned in 3D sculpted rose buds and fragile lace leaves.

I adore the Christmas festivities and hope you have found my work interesting. For more detailed images please visit https://www.ccunningham-textileartist.com/textile-religion-gallery by Christine Cunningham.