Designing colourful hand woven artworks in the 90s before it was even cool, Ptolemy Mann’s work stands out in her new exhibition, “Woven Colour.” Being plunged into Mann’s joyful portfolio of hand dyed textiles on Dovecot’s balcony with the active tapestry studio below offers an intriguing visual of the full cycle of production, as well as opportunely presenting Mann’s work within Dovecot’s rich woven history.
The exhibition showcases a kaleidoscope of colourful craftsmanship in over 20 handwoven rugs and her most recent artistic endeavour of thread paintings. “Colour Mountain Lake,” “Patola Orange” and “Spring Circle” are among my highlights, as they showcase Mann’s intelligent use of colour and Bauhaus-influenced geometrics that are impressively achieved through only the straight lines that her dobby loom generates. Mann’s work retains the age-old tradition of the laborious weaving process which she favours in her work, though painting is a new and exciting move for Mann. After being told that she was a terrible painter at art school, choosing to paint over her meticulously designed and crafted textiles is a mad act of anarchy, and one that is in keeping with her truly admirable nonconformist nature.
Mann self-proclaims the label “chromatic minimalism” for her work, which she can be seen using proudly in her Instagram captions (@ptolemymann.art). Additionally, Mann’s Instagram is a collage of her works in progress, captioned “Night Weaver” and “Night looming” which accurately depicts the handweaving process as something enchanting and that encapsulates my awe as to how these intricate pieces could have been done by hand.
I applaud her avid passion in how she defends her craft, which is evident in discussion with Grant Gibson on his podcast, “Material Matters.” The practice of standing up for herself began in Central Saint Martins where her work was described negatively as too colourful and her enthusiastic use of colour was consistently dismissed as “fun and decorative and cute.” Despite this criticism, Mann continued to do as she wanted and in retrospect, she acknowledges that the restrictions in art school actually lead her to her distinctive use of hand-dyed colour, originating from the only yarn available being white, meaning she had to dye it herself. Although chance led her to her signature style, it’s her resoluteness which has earned her well-deserved success throughout the years.
Her artistic confidence marries with her brilliantly stubborn spirit, complementing the irony of her name, as “Ptolemy” derives from an Ancient Egyptian man’s name. Along with her surname “Mann,” her doubly masculine name aptly aligns with her bold and powerful nature, all of which come through in her colourful chromatic textiles.
So, if you’re looking for a way to cheer yourself up on a cold day midweek, I’d urge you to step through Dovecot’s doors to visit “Woven Colours” for a colourful burst of life and energy.
The exhibition is on at Dovecot Studios until 17 May.
Ptolemy Mann, Abstract Gelim, at Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh. Photography by Phil Wilkinson