Cindy Gidney
Cindy Gidney is a maker of woven vessels, working on the North Norfolk coast.
She comes to the work from a background in fashion, textiles and interiors, and from a long line of seamstresses reaching back to her great grandmother, so sewing and making were part of growing up. Her travels have taken her to basketry traditions in other parts of the world, and she balances the making with a family fabric business.
She is a member of the Suffolk Craft Society and the Norfolk Craft Society.
Artist Statement
I create contemporary woven vessels in raffia and natural fibres using traditional methods of basketry including coiling and twining.
My influence is from the intrinsic patterns and objects found in nature. I love simplicity and texture and am excited by the layers of a palimpsest surface.
I never tire of threading a needle, the natural rhythm of stitching by hand and slow paced making, reinforcing the ancestral past. It is my calm after a busy day, a gentle meditative action whilst the mind-hand process slowly guides the materials.