Bio

For many years I live with husband and cat near Delft, The Netherlands. I have studied General Arts and Textile Design at the Academy for Arts and Industry, Enschede and Textile-experiments and painting at the Free Academy for Modern Art, The Hague, both in The Netherlands. My work has traveled all over the world, including the Friesian Museum and Museum Rijswijk, The Netherlands; Museum of Arts & Design, New York, USA; Textile Triennial, Lodz, Poland; Fiber Art International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; International Textile Triennial, which travels to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic; and the Kaunas Biennial, Lithuania. The work has been published in numerous books and magazines and has won several prizes. Interested in more? Ask for an updated c.v. via info@tillekeschwarz.com or have a look at this interview on textileartist.org.

About

All my work relates basically to one theme: the oddities of life. I include anything that moves, amazes or intrigues me. Daily life, mass media, traditional samplers and cats are major sources of inspiration. The result is a mixture of content, graphic quality and fooling around. The work can be understood as a kind of visual poetry. Every work contains narrative elements. Not really complete stories, with a beginning, a storyline, and an end. On the contrary, the viewer is invited to decipher connections or to create them. This way it becomes a kind of play between the viewer and me. Textiles I love textiles because of the tactile looks.

Textiles

My main training was in drawing but slowly I swapped paper and crayons for linen and thread. All works are created on a fine quality of evenweave linen (50 count / 20 threads to a cm.). My favorite technique is embroidery, mainly couching, cross stitch and appliqué. All stitching is done by hand. This takes quite a bit of time but I really prefer the lively looks of the tiny differences in stitches. I really love the tactile qualities of textiles. Textiles generally create a more intimate relationship with the viewer. Do you like a bit more on how I work, have a look at “the creative process“.

How

In case you are interested in how I create my work have a look at the interview “From conception to creation” for textileartist.org. I hope that will answer all your questions.