Relative Ties

Relative Ties met en lumière le travail de trois générations de femmes artistes issues de l’illustre famille Nicholson : Mabel Nicholson, Nancy Nicholson, EQ Nicholson et Louisa Creed ; et explore ce que nous héritons de nos mères, ce qui peut être transmis par les lignées matrilinéaires, et l’importance des fratries dans une pratique artistique. Il rassemble des croquis, des peintures, des dessins préparatoires, des textiles et des papiers peints, ainsi que des outils et des pochoirs utilisés par les artistes. Publié à l’occasion d’une exposition à la Women’s Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, à Cambridge, le catalogue comprend également une nouvelle œuvre commissionnée par l’artiste contemporaine Katie Schwab (née en 1985). Together, the Nicholson women – Mabel, her daughter Nancy, daughter-in-law EQ, and EQ’s daughter Louisa Creed – form a celebrated line of artists working from the late nineteenth century to the present day across a multiplicity of spaces, contexts and mediums, ranging from paintings and works on paper to wallpaper and fabric. Relative Ties traces the origins of these disciplines to Mabel’s theatrical portrait of the young Nancy as a harlequin, a painting that sits at the beginning of an ongoing family fascination with interiors, pattern, costume and dress that would go on to shape the work of the Nicholson women across the generations. Prolific artists and fabric designers Nancy and EQ Nicholson, not only relatives but close friends and collaborators, expressed their love for design through the exploration of art within domestic spaces, creating textile designs for artists such as Barbara Hepworth and family members such as brother Ben Nicholson. Through access to Nancy Nicholson’s studio materials, Relative Ties allows a fresh glimpse into the tools and techniques behind Nancy and EQ’s designs, including metal type and zinc stencils. The profound influence of the matrilineal line reaches the present day with the work of celebrated rag-rug maker Louisa Creed, daughter of EQ Nicholson, whose renowned works are known for their sensitive colours and painterly form. In celebration of the legacy of the Nicholson women, Relative Ties concludes with an appreciation of new series of works by artist and practitioner Katie Schwab (b. 1985), commissioned as a response to the practices, materials and techniques of the artists in the show.