Nicola Henley

Nicola Henley produces large-scale textile artworks using a combination of dye, painting, screenprint, collage and embroidery on cotton calico. Inspired by landscapes and seascapes and their native wildlife, she is particularly interested in the movement and behaviour of birds.

Henley’s process starts with the dyeing of a large piece of calico, and the photographic transfer of hand-drawn images onto silk-screens. The screens are then used repeatedly, combined with painting, to build up layers of image on the calico. She works both sides of the cloth with a series of sequential marks, to impart texture and colour, and to create a sense of three-dimensional space. Some areas of the surface are then collaged with a mixture of Japanese hand-made papers, fine muslin and dense stitch. In the contrast between large open colour fields and small-scale detail, Henley aims to evoke images of bird life and its natural habitat.

Henley completed a degree in Fine Art Textiles at Goldsmith’s College, London in 1984. Originally from Bristol, she moved to Ireland in 1991, and now lives and works in Co. Clare.