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Slide another-country-detail-2 Welcome to the sensuous world of tapestry

joannesoroka

Tapestries lend warmth, colour and texture to any environment, especially buildings made in modern materials. Add to that the fact that they can be made on an impressive scale, and you'll see why many companies and individuals choose them for prominent locations.

I make a wide variety of handmade, one-off textile and paper works of art, often to commission. They can be tiny or huge, three inches by three inches (7 x 7 cm) to eight feet by fifteen feet (2.5 m x 4.5 m). They can be tapestries, paperworks or other types of textile. The choice is yours.

Work

All
Miniatures
Paperworks
Recent
Shaped Tapestries
Textiles
Unmarked Lives

Commissions

I have worked with galleries, architects, interior designers, shopping centre managers, executives, private individuals and even civil servants. My clients get the work of art they want, one that enhances the chosen space and says something about their company or themselves. I always meet deadlines (approximately three months for a large tapestry). I am happy to work with you to design something to your specifications and budget.

I start with sketches and sample weaves following your instructions, and I don’t start on the project until you are completely happy.

edinburgh-castleEdinburgh Castle hangs in the boardroom of Baillie Gifford and Co, Scotland’s largest firm of investment managers. It was commissioned along with a second tapestry for the company’s headquarters in Rutland Square, Edinburgh.

Reviews

Duncan McMillan

The Scotsman
Another really beautiful work is For Irena Sendler, one of two works by Joanne Soroka…’ ‘Woven in warm, golden colours, a web across the surface invokes the web of life itself while with wonderful delicacy, ash keys, the seeds of the ash tree, each bright with gold leaf, represent the lives that were saved.

Sunday Herald
Thoughtful and rather moving tapestry

Phillippa Swann

Crafts magazine
'Moving’ ‘Vibrant’ ‘A reminder that tapestry is a supremely effective narrative form.'

Jane Norrie

Arts Review
Impressive on account of its diversity and technical virtuosity. Beautiful and intriguing.

Peter Collingwood

Crafts magazine
‘Dramatic design’; ‘strange, arresting effect’; ‘came through with flying colours.’

Anna Babinska

artmagazine
‘Soroka shows a sureness and strength’; ‘ the artist is in perfect harmony with her challenging medium.'

Clare Henry

The Glasgow Herald
Powerful

Murdo Macdonald

The Scotsman
Joanne Soroka’s work is distinguished by a subtle beauty

Henry Lehmann

Montreal Gazette
‘A treat’, ‘fascinating’, ‘daring’

Adrienne Clarkson

former Governor General of Canada
Exquisite

Moira Jeffrey

The Glasgow Herald
The highlight of the show.

Virginia West

Aura magazine
‘These tapestries are the work of a sensitive artist who is in harmony with and in complete control of her medium.’

Selected Shows

Solo shows:
2000- 2003 “Unmarked Lives”, Multicultural Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia and touring to ten venues in Canada, USA and Scotland
1994 “Joanne Soroka”, MacRobert Arts Centre, Stirling, Scotland
1991 “Joanne Soroka Textiles”, Crawford Arts Centre, St. Andrews, Scotland, and touring
1990 Wintergarden, People’s Palace, Glasgow
1990 “Flags”, Arup Associates, London
1981 – 1982 “Tapestries by Joanne Soroka”, Textile Museum, Washington, DC
1982 “Tapestries of Gold”, Ontario Crafts Council Gallery, Toronto
1980 “Tapestries”, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal
1980 “Recent Tapestries”, SAW Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
1977 Galerie Heritage, Toronto

Group shows (recent selected):

2024          "Invisible Threads are the Strongest Ties: Contemporary Tapestry", two-person show with Fiona Hutchison, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh

2021-22    "Tapestry – Changing Concepts", City Art Centre, Edinburgh

2021   "Flow", 7th International Triennial for Miniature Textiles, Gallery of Szombathely, Hungary

2021-2023         Artapestry6, ArtCentre Silkeborg Bad, Denmark and touring to Latvia and Sweden

2019 Cordis Trust Prize, Inverleith House, Edinburgh
2019 Heallreaf, London
2019 Groundwork Gallery, King’s Lynn, UK
2018 "Weaving New Worlds: Contemporary Tapestry", William Morris Gallery,
Walthamstow, London
2018-19 Artaptestry5, touring to Denmark, Sweden, Latvia and Romania
2017-18 Daughters of Penelope, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh
2017 Apocalypse or Global Sustainability, Karpit 3, Budapest, Hungary
2016-17 To Weave Dreams, 26th Miniartextil, Como, Italy; and touring to
Paris, Caudry, France and Venice
2016 15th International Triennial of Tapestry, Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland
2012 Artapestry3, Denmark and touring to Finland, Sweden, France, Latvia
2011 That was Then: This is NOW, City Art Centre, Edinburgh
2011 Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne
2009 ‘This is Now: From Drawing to Contexture’, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh (Edinburgh Art Festival exhibition)
2009-2010 IXe Triennale Internationale des mini-textiles, Musée Jean Lurçat, Angers, France and touring to Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium
2009 3rd International Triennal for Miniature Textiles, Gallery of Szombathely, Hungary
2009 6th International Biennale of Textile Miniatures, ‘Centenaries and Instants’, Arka Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania and touring in Lithuania
2009-2010 “Vive la Tapisserie!” French Institute Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK and touring to Stornoway and London
2009 “Textile Art in Canada”, Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles, Montreal, Canada
2008 “Land”, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, Australia
2004 13th Tallinn Print Triennial, Tallinn, Estonia
2003 “Visual Arts Scotland Annual Exhibition”, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (invited artist)
2001-2002 “Cultural Exchange”, Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum, Birmingham
1999 “Edinburgh Makers”, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
1999“ECA to USA”, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, New Jersey
1998-2000 “Scottish Spirit”, Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and touring in the USA
1996 “Woven Image: Contemporary British Tapestry”, Barbican Centre, London and touring

Blog

Get in Touch

If you would like to get in touch, please email me or call: