Carola van Dyke is a contemporary fibre artist, based in the UK, and her medium is thread. She creates wall-hangings and sculptures with tiny individual floating stitches which explore her fascination with colours, textures, layers and light. Her practice is rooted in the delicate balance between the ephemeral and the permanent, observing how to capture nature with thread, both in bloom and in decay, while reflecting on the growing awareness of our environment and the need for preservation. This dramatic, curious approach represents nature in a delicate and vulnerable manner, with the hanging threads creating subtle movement when walking past, keeping them alive.
Her creative approach lies in merging innovation and tradition through constant research and experimentation, refining her art skills for each new piece. She wishes to achieve delicate yet powerful results by pushing the boundaries of embroidery, thereby bringing forward a more refined and unexpected outcome. Quality, attention to detail, vulnerability and strength are all embedded in her choice of material.
Natural and organic forms are a recurring theme in her work, the magic found in small details: insects, wings, flower petals, roots and their connections. Beauty and colour are a driving force in her work, and she draws deep inspiration from Dutch 17th-century still life and vanitas paintings. By examining these historic sources through a contemporary lens, she seeks to unearth something new and unexpected, weaving time-honoured symbolism with modern sensibilities.
Following from her launch at the Textile Museum in the Netherlands, Carola has presented her embroidered artwork at Collect Art Fair in London and at VOLTA, Art Basel. These landmark exhibitions marked an important milestone in her career, positioning her unique voice within the wider contemporary art world and affirming the relevance of textile art on the global stage. Selected Art Residency includes La Maison de Simon in France and she received a promising young artist stipend in 1993 from the Mondriaan Stischting.
Before embracing the embroidery art, her Textile Taxidermy have been part of the interior scene for the last decade and have sold worldwide. Her extensive international client list includes Liberty London, Bergdorf Goodman NY, , Knoll Textiles, Joseph Abboud to name a few, as well as many private collectors and international celebrities.
Carola’s embroidery art is represented by Priveekollektie Contemporary Art | Design, a leading international gallery of contemporary and functional art, who showcased her work at Art Basel.
