The Artist Behind The Artwork


Beth Barlow (BA, MA) has created socially engaged work since leaving university in 1996. Work as an education officer in a hostel for homeless young people and with an environmental charity fed into her artistic practise and led her to an MA. Here she questioned if art could be useful. Her work continues to be artistically interesting but also aims to have a wider use. Beth's mediums vary depending on the subject matter, audience and participating groups. The ideas determine the form. "Like It. Lump It. We Are All Connected" is the second major work Beth has created using yarn and craft techniques. Taken up as a hobby yarn work provided Beth with a welcome escape, a way to relax whilst still nurturing her need to produce. In 2010 she began a personal project which she called "Knit A Year". Her aim was to knit her moods for a year. As she began she saw that the idea could have a wider application. What  started as a hobby became the focus of a 6 year project culminating in hundreds of people from around the world knitting their moods and contributing their work and thoughts to exhibitions, a web community and a book.

More of Beth's work can be found at www.bethbarlow.com


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