Rhian Bolton BA (Hons) Fine Art
“Again, there is time I find myself folding the laundry more slowly than I could.” - Warren Woessner, Getting the laundry.
Rhian Bolton is a Welsh maker studying and living in Manchester. Bolton has been featured in online publications, such as Creatures Magazine and Orange Blush zine, and printed publications My Friend Alex zine and Yer Magazine. In 2018, she won the Artway Award for Technical Ability at the Cardiff Arts Academy end of year show before studying at Manchester School of Art. Bolton uses domestic materials like wool, cotton, and fabric to appropriate text into these elements, and this is done through crochet and sewing. Contextually, this plays into themes of domestic, ritual, and meditations.
Bolton is inspired by the art of second-wave feminist artists and their “femmages”, to the 90s resurgence in “sloppy art” and handcrafts, to artists of the northwest now exploring their home and upbringing in post-industrial cities. She is also influenced by cottage industry methods and their meanings when displayed in “fine art” contexts. Processes like knitting, weaving, embroidery and natural dye are seen as inherently feminine, easy, and kitsch when seen in white cube spaces. By using these processes, Bolton can question their role in the home and play into stereotypical motions. The text chosen in work has evolved from being ambiguous lines of poetry to bold phrases - AGAIN I HAVE TO CLEAN - further indicating a challenge with their role in the home. Bolton’s work is a subversion to stereotypical domestic roles in the home and displays internal meditations from homely rituals.
“Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table.” Joy Harjo Perhaps the world ends here.
