Caron Penney, Master Weaver

Caron Penney is a British artist specialising in wall-based handwoven tapestry. Her work has been nationally and internationally exhibited including at David Parr House, Petersfield Museum & Art Gallery, Somerset House, Royal Academy of Arts, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, amongst others. She has been a selected artist for Collect Open, and awarded an Arts Council Grant for her project The Red Line for the Collect Art Fair. Penney’s work is held in private and public collections, including the Rumi Foundation, and has been featured in House & Garden, Selvedge Magazine, ROSA Magazine, Embroidery Magazine.

Penney works from the studio of Atelier Weftfaced, which she opened in 2013. She has worked with many artists over her 30-year career including Jacqueline Poncelet, Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, Gillian Ayres, Bill Jacklin, Marta Rogoyska and others. From 2001-2012 she led the Historic Scotland project to recreate the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries for Stirling Castle.

‘I take what is complex and overwhelming, and strip it back to its essence. I transform systems that confuse into something simple, understandable, and human. With Guilt, I explore an emotion that often feels heavy and consuming, and offer an accessible response: stacking each letter upon the other to show how guilt accumulates and builds. The structure of warp and weft creates a naturally occurring grid, echoing textiles made across millennia, particularly in Andean culture. By isolating a single word, I push the viewer to reflect on its weight and meaning. The abstract simplicity of this expression is central to my practice, where minimal gestures carry political intent and speak to humanity’s fallible qualities. The use of gilt gold yarn is deliberate – a homophone of guilt – suggesting a tension between wealth, power and morality. I believe that what is experienced by one individual resonates with many; the personal becomes universal.’