Kayla Mattes at PLY

For their next exhibition offering PLY have flown over Kayla Mattes from America for her solo exhibition, User Interface.

Renowned for her Neo-'90s knitwear collection, cartoon CATZ created from ASC11 art (or text art, to you and us), neon LinkedIn jewellery, woven pizzas (naturally) and now tapestries inspired by a world where smartphones and computers are commonplace.

Kayla has more than a few strings to her bow/loom! Following exhibitions and residencies in her hometown of Portland Oregon, San Francisco and LA, and workshops at ACE Hotel and Rhode Island School of Design, Kayla is jetting over to the UK to exhibit her latest work entitled User Interface – kicking it all off with a very special weaving workshop at PLY on 3rd September. Arguably, Kayla’s talents lie in taking some of the most traditional crafts and bringing them right into the now with her use of colour, technique, imagery and a huge nod to pop culture and modern technology. User Interface, her solo exhibition at PLY, features 14 large scale but intricate, eye-popping woven tapestries incorporating computer generated images that we use and respond to day to day, sometimes without even registering.

Kayla will be launching the show with a weaving workshop at PLY on Thursday 3rd September at 6 pm, where you will be guided through the weaving process. You will learn how to weave on a simple frame loom, with a focus on colour and pattern and leave the workshop confident in techniques such as warping, plain weave, horizontal and vertical striping, fringe, and tapestry. The class includes all materials, tools, a How-To Book, and a frame loom that can be taken home for future projects. Places on the workshop are strictly limited to 15 and ordinarily cost £65. On this occasion, PLY will be subsidising the session and there is just a minimal cost of £7.50 per person to contribute towards the cost of materials. Kayla’s sessions always sell out but there are still places left, so book on today to avoid disappointment! Fancy giving weaving a try ahead of Kayla's workshop? We have everything you need to get you started, take a look here.