Warped and Wasted is an ambitious, large-scale, experimental and modular installation, made collaboratively by 14 seam artists, using 100% waste, existing second-hand or biodegradable materials.
This exciting project, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England (ACE), challenged us to be more ambitious in our collective artistic practice but also benefited us individually in terms of professional development. We worked with two brilliant external mentors, Judith van den Boom, who leads the MA in Regenerative Design at Central St. Martins in London, and Helen Carnac, an artist and curator who has experience in facilitating collaboration in fine art projects, to research and develop ways to work sustainably, distilling our ideas into a cohesive vision from our diverse practices.
The catalyst for this aspirational project was our previous ACE funded project, A Visible THREAD, where we successfully trialled ways of working collaboratively. We also held a thought-provoking sustainability audit that has led to more questions, deep discussions and critical reflections on our individual practices, and where we were still searching for answers. Our feedback discussions centred on the need for research and development to explore how we might elevate the ambitions of seam through collaboration, whilst building on our approaches to sustainability and waste, both within our individual practices and as a collective.
Warped and Wasted the exhibition
Warped and Wasted was exhibited at ACEarts, Somerton, from 23 August to 11 October 2025 with the aim of provoking positive thought, conversation and action, around the complex issues of textiles, sustainable art practices and the climate emergency.
A sub-group of curators worked with Judith van den Boom to create a set of curation rules for assembling the work in the gallery. Following these rules enabled the curators to be flexible with placement whilst knowing that the overall aims of the project were being met. They generated an immersive walk-through installation where the common themes of connection, overlapping, sharing space, tension, softness and transition of colour held the artists’ works together as a cohesive entity.
Read about the extraordinary curation of the exhibition and watch the curators’ talk below. Find out what we learned from Warped and Wasted from our artist and visitor questionnaires, and what our visitors told us about the exhibition in three in-person focus group sessions at ACEarts on our blog.
Textile Talks: textiles, sustainability and collaboration
The installation was supported by a one-day symposium – Textile Talks: textiles, sustainability and collaboration, both online and in-person, held on Friday 3 October 2025. We shared our research and invited speakers: Judith van den Boom, Course Leader of MA Regenerative Design at Central Saint Martins (UAL) London; Paula Orrell, National Director CVAN England (Contemporary Visual Arts Network); and Becky Early, Professor of Circular Design Futures based at Chelsea College of Arts (UAL) London to encourage dialogue around sustainable arts practices locally, nationally and internationally.
We would like to thank everyone involved for making Textile Talks a huge success! We were very lucky to be supported by Liz and Louise at The Loom Shed. You can read more about the details of the programme, speakers and their talks and in A brilliant day talking about textiles, sustainability and collaboration on our blog.
The Plan
Writing our funding application, we developed a clear plan to make our goal achievable, focusing on collaboration and sustainability. We wanted the final work to truly reflect all 14 artists’ skills and strengths, and seam‘s values. Our funding enabled us to hold in-person collaborative meetings, going through a structured process of ideas generation and consensus-building facilitated by our mentors. It also supported the making and presentation of the work, plus the dissemination of our research.
Read Judith van den Boom’s thoughts on mentoring this project in Mentoring through Warped and Wasted: a journey into seam sustainability and individual seam artist’s descriptions of four of the collaborative meetings on our blog.
The Artists
The 14 artists involved are listed below, each with a link to a page about their individual works, the materials used, their personal journeys towards sustainability and their responses to the Warped and Wasted project, and a link to their Instagram homepages. Why not follow them on Instagram to see what they are doing now?
Alice Marie Archer @alicemariearcherstudio
Lou Baker @loubakerartist
Oliver Bliss @olybliss
Youngye Glory Cho @glory.y.cho
Jane Colquhoun @jane_colquhoun
Julie Heaton @julieheatonartist
Desiree Jeans @isla_design
Nina Gronw Lewis @ninagronwlewis
Helen MacRitchie @helenmacritchie
Joy Merron @joymerron
Lydia Needle @lydianeedle
Angie Parker @angieparkertextiles
Nicola Turner @nicolaturner.art
Penny Wheeler @penelopise.
Thank you!
The incredible support we’ve received from Arts Council England and everyone who supported our Crowdfunder campaign has enabled us to take such big steps in our creative journey. This milestone was a huge leap forward for us – and it wouldn’t have been possible without your continued belief and support. Thank you for being part of this journey!
