TEXTILES | LONDON
How does your craft help you explore memories, and is there a specific moment that inspired this piece?
A few years ago I was given access to the residents’ area of the Brunswick Centre, a Brutalist estate in Bloomsbury, London. I was fascinated by the surface quality of the concrete; every mark can be seen. My first visit was on a dull overcast rainy day, the space felt dark, a little threatening, the great A-frames that create the space seemed oppressive, the overall colour—grey.
My second visit in comparison was i bright sunlight, where suddenly so many surfaces came alive, white streaks caused by the build-up of limescale sparkled, shadows of grids were projected onto walls breaking up the monotony of the material, the space was animated. There was no planting at that time, although marks from past shrubs and climbing plants could be seen on the
walls, like ghost trees. However in the two nearby squares scrubby rose bushes bloom each year— these spaces are green, but utilitarian, much like the centre itself.
Brunswick Rose – 2025 Textile • £1,875
Find more about Beatrice Mayfield here.
Images of work: Jules Lister