Finding Inspiration: Mariette Voke

c.Mariette Voke


There's a certain pleasure which comes from finding small, almost inconsequential, everyday objects, which have been demoted to 'junk' over the passage of time yet give a glimpse of social history past. For example, the discovery of the 'Daphne Bryant' name tapes and all of the questions such a find poses.
The frisson of such a vintage find is one which often captures the imagination of Mariette Voke and accordingly makes it's way into her paintings.

"An awful lot of my paintings depict fabric, lettering, or both and I’m always looking for ways to get little bits of text into my pictures. Coat hangers are great for almost unnoticeably sneaking in a few words, clues to the meanings and origins of the paintings. I’m very happy when I find fabric with words on it, and one of my favourites are woven name tapes, they’re a perfect combination of lettering, fabrics and personal history brought together in something tiny, precious and individual. I’m looking forward to painting name tapes in the A Group Gathering  project which I’ll be working on between now and the spring. I had such a rush of ideas late last night, I had to jump out the bath and find a pencil!"  "
Mariette Voke December 2014