Staff Profiles

Areas of Expertise

Historical and Contemporary Textiles, Textile Design, Woven Textiles, Object Design.

Teaching Areas

Design, Textile Design, BFA Textiles, Honours and Masters Supervision.

Current Research Activity

For several years an inquiry into cloth and memory and meaning in cloth has underpinned Liz Williamson's studio based practice.  

Liz's research has involved documenting historical and contemporary textiles alongside traditional weave structure. It has involved several residencies and projects documenting the textile technique of darning, contemporary Jacquard weaving, an Italian Renaissance velvet and brocade weaving and Linen Damask Design in Ulster, Northern Ireland.

In 2006 as part of Liz's ongoing enquiry into darning, two solo exhibitions are planned. 'A Visible Thread' at the Ivan Dougherty Gallery and 'Visible Darning' at Object Galleries will both show work produced following an investigation into the notion of invisibility / visibility in darning.

A 2005 project examined the functional embroidery or darning samplers at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University. This project centered on examining the way motifs in 18th and 19th Century darning samplers were embellished and transformed into decorative patterns and how they replicated the damask weave patterns used in household domestic linens. Previous studies have investigated damask and complex weaving patterns of this period.

HAWWA Project: As part of an ongoing interest in development projects using textile training for income generation purposes in Asian countries, the HAWWA project involved training sessions in December 2004 in Lahore, Pakistan and an ongoing collaboration with Kishwar Naheed, Coordinator HAWWA Associates to document the Lahore weaving centre with a publication. This publication will document the circumstances of the weavers involved at HAWWA and information on woven textile design.

Publications

Book Chapters

Williamson, L. (1999). Introduction. 'Eclarte' and Robert Maltus. (1 - 2). Melbourne, Frances Burke Textile Resource Centre.

Published Articles

Allport, R. (2004). An Interview with Liz Williamson. Textile Fibre Forum, (Volume 23, Issue 3, No 75). (15 - 18).

Bond, C. (2000). Reverberations : pulsations Liz Williamson's woven textiles. Fiberarts Magazine, (Summer ). (30 - 34).

Williamson, L. (1999). Felted Scarves. Handwoven Magazine, (Summer). ( - ).

Brennan, A. (1997). Worn and Worn: Textiles of Liz Williamson. Crafts Arts International, (39). (33 - 37).

Hinchliffe, M. (1995). Covering both the soul and the body' review of 'Undulations' exhibition by Liz Williamson. Canberra Times, (12.7.95). (32 - ).

Speck, C. (1994). Gilding the Landscape, review of 'Pieces of Colour' exhibition by Liz Williamson. Object, (1). (19 - 21).

James, B. (1994). New Colour. The Sydney Morning Herald, (February). ( - ).

Ioannou, N. (1993). Celebration of colour and pattern. The Adeliade Advertiser, (29 September). ( - ).

Cottier, S. (1987). Liz Williamson. Interior Design, (10). (54 - 59).

Bogle, M. Pelly, C. (1987). Liz Williamson - Weaver. Craft Australia, (Autumn). (90 - 91).

Brennan, B. (1984). Woven Art. Vogue Living, (March). (61 - ).

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2006, Visible Darning. Object Galleries, Sydney, NSW.

2006, A Visible Thread. Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, NSW.

1999, Surface. Crawford Gallery, Sydney, NSW.

1998, Wraps. Beaver Galleries, Canberra, ACT.

1995, Undulations. Beaver Galleries, Canberra, ACT.

1994, New Colour. Craftspace, Sydney, NSW.

1993, Pieces of Colour. Main Gallery, Jam Factory Craft and Design Centre, Adelaide, SA.

1992, Wraps and Scarves. Brown Paper Gallery, Lawson, NSW.

Group Exhibitions

2006, Depth of Field: Conversations between Photography and Textiles. UCE, Birmingham, UK.

2006 , In the World : Head, Hand, Heart . 17th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial, Tamworth City Gallery, Tamworth, NSW, Australia (and touring nationally until 2008).

2005, Inspired: Design Across Time . Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.

2004, a matter of time. 16th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial, Tamworth City Gallery, Tamworth, NSW (and touring nationally until 2006).

2004, Ragged Beauty: Repaired Textiles and Other Objects . Museum of Craft and Folk Art, Fort Mason Centre, San Francisco, USA.

2004, Sydney Style . Sydney Opera House Gallery, Sydney.

2004, Pins and needles: textile and techniques from the Australian Collection. National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square, Melbourne.

2004, 11th International Triennial of Tapestry Lodz 04. International exhibition shown at the Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland.

2003, Unwrapped: Australian Fashion and Textile Design. Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo and touring to Asia.

2002 , Material Culture: Aspects of Contemporary Australian Craft and Design. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

2002-2004, Tracking Cloth. Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong. Also opening in Bali, Indonesia and touring in Indonesia and Australia.

2002 , Extreme Wearables. the Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China.

2002, Contemporary Textile Art OBG International Biennial. Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Projects

Linen Damask Design  (2002)
A research project to study the nature and character of Linen Damask design in Ulster, Northern Ireland. This proejct involved a residency at the School of Art, University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.

Special Study Program  (2001)
Research into Renaissence Italian Textiles at Lisio Foundation, Florence, Italy.

Exhibitions Curated

2007, 'Integration : the nature of objects'. Ivan Dougherty Gallery, COFA, UNSW, Sydne, Australia.

1996, 'Deviations' . Craft Council of ACT, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

1995, 'Directions - ContemporaryCloth'. Craft Council of ACT, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

1993, 'Decoration and Diversity - New Textiles'. Craftspace, Sydney, Australia.

1989, 'Commissioned Textiles'. Craft Centre Gallery , Sydney, Australia.

Conference Papers

Williamson, L. (2004). Darning: a visible thread. Textiles Society of America, 9th Biennial Symposium, (Textiles Society of America, California.

Grants

Special Study Program, UNSW, (2007),

John Yu Fellowship, UNSW, . (2005),

Faculty Research Grant, UNSW, . (2006),

Faculty Research Grant, UNSW, . (2005),

Australia Council, (2000),

Collections

National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Powerhouse Museum, Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Alice Craft Acquisition Collection, Craft Council NT, Australian National Gallery, Powerhouse Museum / Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Tamworth City Art Collection, Hoechst Australia Textile Collection, Victorian State Craft Collection, also numerous private collections in Australia, Japan, USA, UK and Europe., ,

Professional Associations

Visual Arts Board, Australia Council 2002 - 2006
Deputy Chair 2003 - 2006

Design Institute of Australia

Development project with various textile groups in Asia