Gyllian Thomson – Auld Stones and Thin Places
Tapestry requires an intimate involvement with the hand and eye in an unaggressive way. It has a quiet strength, a gentleness, and a fragility, but it also demands
a respect and an admiration. This is why Gyllian has chosen it as her way of expressing herself; “it feels like part of me”. It is unassuming at first but increasingly demands attention.
Gyllian’s body is no longer what it once was and, in a way, shares some of this fragility with her tapestries. When she looks at her work, she is caught in a nonjudgemental response. It is a happy time, and it demands that she challenges herself to create. Her work is her own personal response to what she sees in the world around her. Since her diagnosis, she has felt a stronger response to the feelings
of loss of who she was before, and also a feeling of being invisible as she navigates the world as a disabled person.
The tapestry “Auld Stones and Thin Places” shows a monument strong and holding, purposely marked with diagonal lines. At the top of this tapestry there is
a blending of gentle colours juxtaposed with scoring that has a forceful cutting effect. These lines are seen in sandstone in Gyllian’s local area, and are used as a branding
by the local stonemasons, almost like an “I was here” and a homage to the craft person.
Gyllian is making and thinking, making and marking her thoughts onto the loom within a safe, creative and accepting space. Using textiles is like a tactile literacy. First, she paints, then interprets these into her tapestries on an upright scaffold loom using wool, cotton, acrylic, threads, and recycled plastics.