About
Caron Penney (b.1970) is one of today’s leading contemporary artists working with tapestry weaving. Born in Hampshire and
brought up in the picturesque market village of Botley. Penney weaves with traditional materials synonymous with hand-woven
tapestry, from worsted wool to gilt gold thread. She studied Constructed Textiles at Middlesex University and alongside her own practice, she is a creative mentor and educator.
Reflecting on her deep fascination with the balance of life, she looks to portray through the positive and negative use of language, and the singular use of abstract words, multiple interpretations. Some of these phrases or words have both personal significance and a universal understanding. Creating her own font, directly related to the warp and weft count she chooses a hard geometric shape and rhythm. In her tapestries devoted to the grid, a love of systems and patterns also seeks to represent the repetition and sequential existence of daily life.
Penney has exhibited widely and has work in numerous private and public collections, including the Rumi Foundation, who purchased the tapestry ‘The Red Line’ at Collect Art Fair in 2022, in support of artists who create work of important social significance and social understanding.
In 2013 she opened Atelier Weftfaced with fellow artist Katharine Swailes, its main purpose is devoted to the construction of textiles and tapestry weaving. Working in collaboration with artists like Turner Prize winner Martin Creed, and Gillian Ayres to create large scale wall based tapestry artworks. Penney is currently exhibiting with Swailes at the Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery, ‘The Language of Weaving’ until 1st June 2024.
Image credit: Yeshan Venema
