About the project
Loops & Continuums 2024-2025
This project brings together the works of six talented artists, each exploring their unique creative practices through various textile mediums and perspectives. Hosted and curated by Sunny Bank Mills, the project aims to create a large-scale collaborative work centered around the theme of Loops and Continuums, while also showcasing our individual practices and the diverse possibilities within textile art. In addition, we aim to capture the process of making as an integral part of our exploration.
Our goal is to foster collaboration and provide a platform for both Yorkshire and the Netherlands-based artists to share their work and engage with the public at Sunny Bank Mills. This page has been created specifically to offer insight into the artistic journey that began in early 2024. Here, you’ll find a selection of three artworks from each participating artist, alongside a group collage that visually ties together their contributions.
The creative process has been a collective evolution, starting with initial sketches and a mood board developed in May 2024. These early visual references helped shape the overall direction of the project and provided a foundation for further exploration. From these initial stages to the final artworks, this page offers a glimpse into the journey and transformation of ideas over time.
The artists are listed in alphabetical order for ease of navigation.
Featured Artists
UK-Based Artists
Andi Walker
Andi Walker’s work is an ongoing exploration of the evolving nature of human narratives, where stories are continually made, unmade, and remade. Specializing in constructed textiles, he engages with the interplay between materiality and meaning, using his practice as a metaphor for the continuous processes of creation, transformation, and reinterpretation that define human experience.
In his work, textiles serve not just as a medium but as a canvas where tensions between control and chaos, structure and fluidity, and permanence and impermanence are explored. Techniques such as allowing ink to drip organically down fabric reveal the beauty of chance and unpredictability, mirroring how stories and identities shift over time.
Deconstruction and reconstruction are central to Andi’s process. By breaking down and reassembling fabric pieces, he delves into themes of fragmentation and reassembly, reflecting our tendency to revisit and redefine our stories. This dynamic allows new expressions to emerge, where the old and the new coexist in a dialogue of contrasts.
Hannah Robson
Hannah Robson is an artist and weaver exploring the spatial qualities of textiles. Working primarily with paper yarns, wire, and materials with inherent structural properties, she examines the transformative power of textiles in our surroundings. Focusing on shifts in density and texture, as well as the interplay of light on materials, Hannah creates delicate forms and surfaces directly on the loom. Her inspiration comes from the connections and infrastructures—both natural and man-made—that shape our world, from electrical wiring to leaf skeletons. Through her layered and translucent woven sculptures, she invites viewers to look through the surface and consider the complex pathways of each thread.
For the Loops and Continuums theme, Hannah is interested in the continuity of threads within complex woven forms. Her works often feature threads that circle back, break free from the woven grid, and twist into new directions, while remaining part of a continuum of core threads that form the warp and weft.
Jane Claire Wilson
Jane Claire Wilson is a practice-led artist creating textile-based art that tells stories about places and people. Currently completing a PhD in Fine Art (Textiles), she explores themes of displacement and non-places, particularly transitional and in-between spaces.
Jane experiments with the properties and processes of textiles to craft fiber sculptures that serve as visual metaphors for personal experiences and broader social and political issues. She believes that the familiarity and tactility of textiles make them an effective medium for engaging audiences in challenging discussions. Her work provokes memories and narratives of time, movement, and change.
An active member of the textile community, Jane engages others through her role as a socially engaged artist and exhibits locally and nationally. Influenced by artists such as Sheila Hicks, Judith Scott, and El Anatsui, she continues to develop her creative practice, producing unique and innovative works that challenge and celebrate textiles as an art form.
Netherlands-Based Artists
Gea van Eck
For as long as I can remember, I have used multiple senses to look at things. Besides my eyes I also observe with my hands and heart. This sensory connection with my surroundings finds its expression through sculpture.
Wool is my medium of choice. I fell in love with the versatility and look and feel of the material. My working process is very time consuming. I stab in wool with a single needle. Thousands of tiny pokes eventually generate a sculpture. I often work with my eyes closed, relying on touch to determine the shape. The process of poking is alternately artisanal and meditative. Every element of the piece absorbed the thoughts and events of the time I worked on it. I often add another material to the sculpture to create a contrast.
My artistic inspiration stems from observations of human behavior and interactions. With a blend of astonishment and compassion, I strive to capture these experiences. Exploring the use of the human body as well as elements from nature, both literally and metaphorically, my work carries multiple layers of meaning.
Hanneke van Broekhoven
When I am asked to tell what I do, I usually say I make sculptures of textile and steel. For some years that was an adequate description. But - like many artists - I like to try different media, for example recently I created an installation of garden hoses cut up in little rings and I have been making stop motion videos inspired by natural transformation processes. But my textile sculptures are my specialty. They are internationally appreciated for their high level of craftsmanship, for their convincing representation of human anatomy and for their vulnerable appearance.
My work is always very labor intensive, whatever medium I use. I like to zoom in to the smallest detail, but also leave parts rough and unfinished. It’s a balancing act. The result is both beautiful and imperfect. Because it takes so much time, the work has the opportunity to develop and deepen. It never turns out the way I originally envisioned it. In fact the creative process is pretty similar to the course of my life and career. In general it gets better all the time, but there are moments when my heart feels heavy. I have to stop and find out what annoys me so much and what changes have to be made. It usually gets better after that
Monika Loster
Monika Loster, (born in Warsaw, based in the Netherlands) is an artist who creates sculptural images using fiber-based materials combined with mixed media. During her residency at Sunny Bank Mills in the fall of 2023, she developed a vision for a collaborative exhibition featuring UK and Dutch artists, which was embraced by Anna Turzynski, the newly appointed art director of Sunny Bank Mills.
Monika’s work explores the interplay between organic shapes and their surroundings, often resembling forms from nature that evoke growth and transformation. These biomorphic structures draw inspiration from human anatomy, animal shapes, and floral designs, reflecting her observations of the natural world. The resulting pieces create a dynamic relationship between artwork and space, suggesting a natural symbiosis that allows them to feel as if they have spontaneously emerged within their environment.
Through her practice, Monika delves into themes of evolution and interconnectedness, inviting viewers to engage with the processes of change and development that inform her artistic vision.
Initial Sketches
Collective vision of the project, including mood board
Group Collage
