Liz Williamson

Liz Williamson is known as a ‘matriarch of Australian weaving’. Hear what Liz’s favourite ‘magical’ material is, how darning and repair informs her work, and how she works with weavers around the world.

Liz Williamson is an internationally respected textile artist who specialises in hand-woven textiles.

Sometimes wearable and sometimes for display, the texture of Liz’s work is distinctive. It’s woven flat, and the materials she uses create crushed, crinkled surfaces and three dimensional shapes like loops and sacks.

Australia Design Centre made Liz Williamson a Living Treasure in 2007, and her Living Treasures exhibition toured nationally until 2011.

Liz lives and works on Gadigal and Wongal country in inner west Sydney.

Guests

Ilka White is an artist whose practice spans textiles, teaching, cross-disciplinary collaboration and art-in-community. ilkawhite.com.au

Anna Waldman is a former curator at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was the director of the Australia Council's Visual Arts and Craft board.

Jon Goulder is an award winning, fourth generation furniture maker and is an Australian Design Honouree. jongoulder.com

Show highlights and takeaways

How long does it take to weave something? [3:50 mins]

People often ask Liz Williamson how long it takes to weave something. She weaves panels that are about 1.2m long in two to four hours.

Why fine worsted wool is 'magical' [4:40 mins]

Fine worsted wool is material that Liz worked with a lot in the 980s and 1990s, to weave wraps and scarves. She calls it 'magical' because she says it can respond to different treatments. You can wash it, you can felt it, or you can combine it with materials that felt. The worsted wool doesn’t felt that much by itself but you combine it with other wool that does felt, creating textured surfaces.

Australia's Indigenous fibre tradition is one of the most amazing in the world [6:25 mins]

Liz feels very privileged to live in a country that has such a wonderful, rich fibre tradition, saying, "The Indigenous fibre art tradition is one of the most amazing in the world. It's been wonderful to see that tradition come to fore with artists representing Australia, internationally with Yvonne Koolmatrie.” Australian Indigenous weaving traditions have broadened our thinking around weaving, she says, to include many shapes and forms.

Woven loops and sacks [7:35 mins]

Liz's work includes three-dimensional structures like woven loops and sacks. "The woven loops came from a project sitting at the loom, trying to work out how I could explore this idea of protection. I was creating a three-dimensional structure," she explains. Some of the loops are made just with plain weave, with their shape and texture coming from how she's combined different materials.

Experimentation with the material leading [7:50 mins]

Liz...