Patti was absolutely delighted to hear in March 2020 that her textile book, Spurn 3, had been shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Then, of course, the pandemic hit and the summer exhibition was postponed. She received some interesting phone calls from the BBC who were considering her as one of the artists followed from initial submission to final selection – which could mean disappointment in full public view! She then spent two weeks in hospital for emergency surgery in June, and spend a further month there in August/September, which meant she couldn’t take the book down to the Academy for the final selection. Her husband carefully packed it up, labelled it diligently and delivered it safely for consideration. In September she heard that the book hadn’t made the final cut, news which actually generated mixed emotions: she had spent months in hospital and recovering; wasn’t able to attend college during the pandemic, and needed to complete work for the textiles2020 show. She felt she hadn’t had the book with her for long enough and, had it been selected, would have had to ensure her husband bought it back: she needed it for the textiles2020 show in December!
A follow-on … her non-textiles work, Mind the Gap (working title: Man Spread), has been shortlisted this year. Again, she’s absolutely delighted. It’s an edition, so this time would like it to get through!
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Website: www.patti-taylor.co.uk