Since moving from Scotland to Australia in 1989, Jill Kinnear has responded to her experiences as a Scottish-Australian – both as an artist making large public art works, and as a textile designer and maker. She believes that emigration and textiles have defined her life.

In 2005, based in Toowoomba, Kinnear began to make printed textiles that focus on the experience of emigration. Using her own cultural textile heritage she made metal structures of tartan and paisley patterns and passed them through the baggage X-ray machine at Brisbane International Airport. From the resulting digital images, she has structured a textile collection which is physically transformed by the process of modern day travel. From 2006 Sydney textile design studio Longina Phillips has digitally printed these patterns onto silk fabrics. Kinnear describes the process as richly rewarding. She has acquired new skills, experienced new processes, and formed new collaborative relationships.






TAGS
+ Kinnear
+ Design
+ Craft
+ Textiles
+ Printing
+ Scotland
+ Toowomba
+ Smart works
+ Digital printing
+ Silk
+ Australia