Pat Moloney

After graduating from Birmingham College of Art, I spent ten years as a freelance weave designer for the Furnishing Textiles Industry working mainly with man made fibres.

I gradually moved into higher education teaching which led to a Senior Lecturer’s post at London Guildhall University (now London Metropolitan University) . During this time I took two years out to undertake research in Design Education Unit at The Royal College of Art and to act as an advisory lecturer to the Art and Design Inspectorate in London. Throughout this period I continued to work towards exhibitions both nationally and internationally and was a founder member of Fibre Art.

In 1987, along with two colleagues, I was asked to write the first Textile course books for the OCA. As a result of this, I became very interested in distance learning and since then I have been responsible for revising and updating these courses. Ten years ago I left full time teaching and took a Master’s degree in the History of Textiles and Dress at Winchester School of Art. Since then I have combined teaching with my own practice and writing. I continue to lecture on textiles on a part time basis at London Metropolitan University, I am a tutor for the OCA and for the Opus School of Textile Arts where I teach History of Textiles and Professional Practice.

I am also a member of both the Chartered Society of Designers and the Society of Designer Craftsmen .As the Licentiate membership co-ordinator for Society of Designer Craftsmen I take part in the recruitment and assessment of new graduate members.

TUTOR STATEMENT

My personal interests explore the infinite range of textiles, from those produced by other cultures, to the Art Textiles of the Twentieth and Twenty first Centuries. There is always something to discover. In my own work, I begin by taking photographs looking for the minute details, the interaction of colour with texture, the surface qualities, lines and marks and use these as inspiration or simply to recall the memory and atmosphere of a place . I do not work directly from the photographs, but develop a colour inventory and then allow each piece to evolve in its own way and create a response to what I have experienced. I enjoy exploring the unexpected, often using materials out of context.

My research interests are concerned with the meeting of traditional craft design technology with digital technology. Inspired by the tactile presence of structured textiles, I am currently researching the role that light can play in affecting out health and well being and my woven pieces shows how textile structures can be enhanced by light, both, by the use of light technology, optical fibres and lasers, and by the reflective qualities of the materials themselves.