Subjects
Mixed media | Tapestry
Tutor Bio
Rachel Johnston is an artist and tapestry weaver whose practice brings together painting, woven textiles, stitch, sculpture and socially engaged art. She studied painting before completing an MA in Fine Art Tapestry at the Royal College of Art, and was for many years a senior lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Chichester. Rachel has worked on commissioned and public art projects across the UK, exhibited widely, and is a member and studio holder at Art Space Portsmouth. Her work has been shown in the Cordis Prize for Tapestry exhibitions and with Soft Geometry.
Rachel Johnston’s practice is rooted in cloth, narrative, place and journey-making. Working with weave, stitch and constructed textile forms, she explores how materials can carry memory, movement and experience.
A recurring strand in her work is the making of sculptural, shoe-like forms which are worn in specific environments, often in water or landscape. These objects become both artwork and tool: shaped by use, connected to the body, and linked to the sensory experience of being in a place.
Her work moves between textile, sculpture, performance, photography and drawing, often bringing together personal memory, natural rhythms, histories of production and geological time. Recent work has been informed by residencies, including time in Norway, and by an ongoing interest in rivers, landscape, woven structure and the narratives held within cloth.
Alongside her studio practice, Rachel has extensive experience in education, community projects and public art. This gives her teaching a strong foundation in both fine art and textile process, with an emphasis on material investigation, thoughtful making and the development of individual ideas.