Debbie Smyth

Debbie Smyth is textile artist most identifiable by her statement thread drawings and installations. Her work beautifully blurs the boundaries between fine art drawings and textile art, 2D and 3D work, illustration and embroidery, literally lifting the drawn line off the page in a series of “pin and thread” drawings. Her contemporary artwork is playful yet highly sophisticated and is created by stretching a network of threads between accurately plotted pins. Based in Stroud, Gloucester. Debbie specialises in the performance of line, pushing the expected scope of textiles to produce captivating illustrative tapestries and awe-inspiring tactile surfaces. She established her studio practice in 2009 following a run of successful commissions from large scale hotel installations, live performance event art, to statement window displays for some of the world’s biggest brands. Due to the scale of the projects she works on the studio has now expanded into a family led team that come together to make her complex visions a reality.   “I enjoy being in command of the fiber. I enjoy the performance of taking a line for a walk. Our process is very material led. We look at thread as a drawing medium; how the thread falls or knots, often dictates the next step. Achieving complex shading and tactile surface patterns through an innovative application of pins and thread. We enjoy taking thread out of it’s comfort zone, presenting it on monumental scale and creating an eye-catching, and in some case jaw dropping effect.”