Hannah White is a textile artist and weaver who is fascinated by how cross-disciplinary materials and processes can be constructed to create architectural sculptural forms.
Hannah says that great craft is created, “When it is clear that the maker’s affinity with their materials and making process has enabled them to create something extraordinary. I am driven to keep making by my passion for exploring new ways to create structure and form using constructed textiles techniques.”
During her Doctorate at the Royal College of Art, Hannah undertook an apprenticeship at a metal workshop to learn the technique of electroforming. She combined this new knowledge with 20 years’ experience as a craft-weaver, to create a hybrid material called Metal Integral Skeleton Textiles (MIST). Pliable conductive threads are woven within cloth and the subsequent electroforming process means that the metal only forms onto these specific threads within the weave. This enables areas of the textiles to become rigid and self-supporting. The hard metal provides structure, whereas the fluid textile allows areas to compress and fold, creating possibilities for sculptural forms.
Hannah’s MIST sculptural forms entitled ‘Fluidity and Rigidity’ are made from woven fabric which is pleated, hand stitched and selectively electroformed. These three-dimensional surfaces display beautiful shadows, with the drape and softness of the fabric creating a strong contrast to reflective rigid areas of metal. Her graphic weave patterns echo the concept of the rigidity created by the metal skeleton, whereas the subtle textures of the threads emphasise the softness of the textile.