Jo Robyn Elbourne's quiet, process-driven and methodical practice utilises the simple act of manipulating fibres in one direction against another. 

The resulting work is taut and layered. It is concerned with proportion, balance, stillness and the idea, both literally and figuratively, of managing tension.

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Elbourne returned to hands-on making after a decade-long career as a clothing designer.

Various experiments with textiles and a self-imposed rule that she must create objects of use rather than ornament gradually led to a distinctive and modern take on the age-old craft of seat weaving. Reworking discarded furniture frames - partly out of necessity and partly wishing to rescue objects which would otherwise be thrown away - the chairs and stools she made existed somewhere between utilitarian surface and art object.

It was this work - exhibited for the first time in the British Craft Pavilion at the 2017 London Design Festival - which first gained critical attention, bringing an Elle Decoration British Design Award in the same year.

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Later, moving away from the limitations of functionality, she began making the larger scale wall-based artworks which are now her main focus.

This work has garnered clients and collectors both in the UK and internationally, being held in private collections across Europe, the US and Hong Kong.

 

She lives and works in the coastal town of Margate in the South East of England.

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Portrait by Kat Green at Resort Studios, Margate - 2018