Abby Colclough is a textile and installation artist who focuses on traditional weaving methods, emphasising community-based feminine textile practices. Informed by materiality, she fuses found objects with natural fibres. Abby’s work reflects on her experiences of isolation due to living with a skin condition.

Currently in her fourth year of the BA Fine Art degree at the University of Leeds, she has also studied at the University for the Creative Arts, London, and The Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw.

Abby suffers from a rare condition affecting the immune system, causing the body to perceive any touch as an allergic stimulant. With these limitations, she began to yearn for the things that had once comforted her. Souvenirs littered her bedroom, from a time when healing was easy. Objects that would hurt her skin, objects that she would not throw away.

The process of swaddling these objects traces a line between comfort and yearning. In altering the surface, it becomes accessible to the touch, losing its functionality. Through this labour, the object grows its own fragile skin.

Instagram: @abby_colclough_portfolio

Website: abbycolclough.artweb.com