Kirstie Williams is a practising printmaker and textile artist based in Leeds & Wakefield. Her practice is process led and primarily explores the research and application of natural dyes and handmade plant based printing inks.
Sustainability plays a strong role in her design process, emphasising slowness in the creation and consumption of products to instil quality and foster traditional skills.
With a background in teaching at various levels, she also delivers community based workshops and courses as an intrinsic part of her practice – she recognises and values all that creativity brings to individuals, especially in improving wellbeing, and encourages people to engage in the arts regardless of their background or experience.
Current Projects
I’m excited to be working on a number of funded projects including collaborations and community based projects.
Mills in Colour – Textile Heritage Project & Exhibition 2024
Mills in Colour explored Wakefield’s rich textile history through the use of natural dyes and printing pastes.
I spent 6 months working on a research and development project experimenting with the use of natural colour and plant-based printing inks whilst exploring imagery of Wakefield’s textile mill heritage. The project looked at sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to screen printing inks, whilst raising awareness of the many lost or repurposed mills across the Wakefield area.
Alongside my research and technical samples, I exhibited printed textile works exploring the imagery of significant mill buildings, delving into historic dye recipes and highlighting documents related to the use and sale of the mills.
Original imagery and sources from Wakefield Libraries Photographic Collection and the West Yorkshire Archive Service collections.
Mills in Colour was supported with a Culture Grant by Wakefield Council as part of Our Year – Wakefield District 2024.
