Charlotte Edey returns with new drawings and tapestries

The London-based artist’s new exhibition, Echolocation, features drawings, silks and hand-embroidered tapestries

By Rachael Steven 27/08/2019 9:10 am

Garden, woven tapestry embroidered with pearl and mirrors

Charlotte Edey first caught our eye in 2018 with her pastel-hued tapestries and drawings of miniature figures in Escher-esque landscapes.

Since then, she has been busy working on a range of commissions, including editorial illustrations for WeTransfer and the New York Times, plus a series of artworks for self-care book The Spirit Almanac and a new collection of personal works.

These personal pieces are brought together in Echolocation, a solo exhibition opening at London gallery Public on September 5.

With detailed tapestries and blue-tinted drawings alongside delicate silk georgettes, it’s a collection of work that is best viewed IRL. The dream-like pieces build on Edey’s signature style, with feminine figures, astrological symbols and natural landscapes.

Edey says the exhibition stems from ideas of femininity and explores how we navigate our environment: “Employing organic symbolism and the traditionally gendered mediums of embroidery, weaving and textile, the fabric of the worlds is shaped and informed by the idea of femininity and how it intersects with the multiple facets of identity. Anthropomorphic landscapes and atmospheres punctuated by curls and waves speak to expanding beyond the body,” she says.

Her artworks are richly detailed and painstakingly crafted, putting a contemporary twist on traditional mediums.