Rosemary Crosthwaite
Textile
I work with textiles and in particular weaving. My practice is in both tapestry weaving and cloth weaving. Tapestry is a form of image making using a loom and weft faced weaving techniques. My most recent tapestry work has been looking at the abstract qualities of the Lake Eyre landscape. The designs for these tapestries have been developed from aerial photographs I took in the region in 2010. The works are woven on a loom using a mix of yarns, but primarily wool, cotton, silk and linen with small amounts of synthetic yarns. The focus is the abstract quality of the land forms, the powerful colour contrasts and the stark beauty of the region. From this series, ‘Towards an Interior Sea’ (one of the images submitted) was selected for the 2013 Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award Exhibition.
I have woven cloth for many years but recently I have been weaving on a Japanese Saori loom. This is a 2 shaft loom which encourages the focus of the cloth to be on colour, materials and experimentation rather than traditional pattern structures. The fabric can be used for a variety of purposes which include garments, sculptural pieces and home wares.

I studied weaving as a school student then went on to do a Diploma of Art – Tapestry at South West College of TAFE and a Diploma of Art and design at Box Hill TAFE. At present I am doing a PhD researching community based tapestry weaving in Australia through Monash University’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture. I am interested in community based tapestry projects as a weaver, a researcher and a community practitioner. I worked on a project undertaken at RMIT and would be interested to conduct a project in the Banyule area.

I also have a Bachelor of Arts and qualifications in Education, and have worked as a teacher at all levels of education in English, Literacy, English as a Second Language and Academic Skills in universities. In my education work I have enjoyed working with a wide range of young people and adults from very diverse backgrounds. My teaching has not been in the visual arts however I am interested to take my teaching experience into the arts and crafts.
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Rosemary Crosthwaite
Textiles, Weaving
Workshops/demonstrations/master-classes/presentations, Residency – community, in school, Public art projects, Project management
Families, General public, Men, People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, People living with disabilities, School children, Seniors, Women, Young people
Diploma of Art (Tapestry) - South West College of TAFE
Diploma of Art and Design - Box Hill TAFE.
PhD (community based tapestry weaving in Australia)- Monash University’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (current)