Izzy Ager
ba(hons) hand embroidery
Royal School of Needlework
Specialisms: Embroidery / Textiles - Mixed Media / Textiles for Fashion
Location: Epsom, United Kingdom
Izzy Ager
First Name: Izzy
Last Name: Ager
Specialisms: Embroidery / Textiles - Mixed Media / Textiles for Fashion
Sectors:
My Location: Epsom, United Kingdom
University / College: Royal School of Needlework
Course / Program Title: ba(hons) hand embroidery
About
‘Flora is a fundamental part of my practice. It has the ability to create memories, bring me back to moments in my life with family and helps ground me.’ – Izzy Ager
Izzy Ager is a professional hand embroiderer who studied at the Royal School of Needlework. Nature and flowers inform her delicate and detailed embroideries, which are often 3-dimensional, as if growing out of the surface of the fabric. Her inspiration comes from the organic forms of the flower, using its many layers and different meanings and she is inspired by botanical artists.
Documentary through diary making, photography, research and history is key to her exploration of flora and its history. She remembers spending her childhood with a Fujinon lens digital camera taking as many photos as she could. Flowers are an escape, used to centre herself and bring her to a space of calm.
Izzy is highly skilled in all hand embroidery techniques, but her specialised areas are Tambour and Goldwork. With an interest in creating texture, she has also incorporated paint into her work, intrigued by recreating the texture of this media and of brushstrokes created when applying it.
‘Tracing floral journeys’ explores the journeys and findings of botanical illustrators from the late 17th century up till present day, such as Edith Holden and Catherine Hamilton. Both created diaries to document their journeys and everyday life, accompanied with an illustration of botany. Reflecting their processes, hand embroidery artist, Izzy Ager, explored the shapes and patterns of flora collected over her travels to historical places and gardens near her and in Surrey and its outskirts, to develop her ideas for this collection. To create the structural patterns of flora, Izzy traced the lines these journeys to her chosen places from road maps, resulting in the creation of 3D veins. Creating tissues flowers allowed her to explore the forms, structure and layering to then translate into textiles. Using 3D embroidery techniques and traditional Goldwork, traditionally seen on Military uniforms, she has stitched a variety of textures to create contrasting areas of both matt and shine. Izzy is fascinated in the detail and materials she uses, looking at alternative ways to create 3D embroidery pushing the traditional further. The 3D veins are hand wired and then embellished. The flowers, hand painted with silk dyes on white organdie links back to the brush strokes and marks illustrated by botanical artists. Her body adornment sits in a fashion context but can also be adapted to textiles art.
Competitions
