Renowned Australian textile artist, Jenny Bowker AO spent many years in the Middle East and Islamic countries including Syria, Jordan, Jerusalem, Egypt and Malaysia. As a diplomat’s wife she observed at close hand the richness of Arabic cultures and Islamic faith. In this body of work (10 machine pieced and quilted), Bowker presents her life experience charged with the poetry and politics of this time, in celebration of the people she met and the places she lived.
Jenny has been working in Textiles since 1997 following completion of her Bachelor of Arts Degree (Visual) and decision ‘to make just one quilt’. From this modest start Bowker has developed a passion for quilts and teaching. ‘I teach and really enjoy it. There is no greater delight than to offer tools to a quilter who wants to make original work but doesn’t know how to access her own ideas.’
In melding fine art with her textile work Jenny is interested in:
‘The way pattern comes into many parts of our lives, which often include geometrical piecing. I think this keeps me technically on my toes and provides a key for traditional quilters to link to my work’.
