Joy Pitts

My practice is an original fine art concept that reconfigures the woven label. The work is constantly negotiating the boundaries between the process of making (craft) and understanding life through material (fine art). I have developed my own language by unpicking 30,000 used labels from rag garments. These rags continue their recycling journey, whilst the labels are used in ways that reflect garment construction and making as process.

Batches of overs are gifted from label manufacturers and are waste materials that would otherwise end up in landfill. They are generated by producing design samples for clothing brands using different colourways; some batches are never collected or no longer needed. This new material is welcome and is useful for creating contrast against old labels that have been worn and washed for many years.

I studied Fine Art with a specific request not to go down the textile route. However, it was my love of experimenting with materials that led to working with tons of rag garments and consequently dissecting clothing. But how to re-purpose clothing labels into art? Driven by the process of garment construction I began experimenting with dress maker pins, and soon realised that the pins created their own rhythm, exaggerating shape, line, form and texture.

Savile Row has provided a unique window from which to showcase my work using thousands of bespoke labels. Collaborations include a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill selected from the archive of tailors Henry Poole, also an installation in the window of Huntsman for Wool Week 2015. Story telling is embedded in my work and the combination of Savile Row archives and the cutting rooms of skilled tailors provides the perfect window for display.

Installation art was the focus of my MA Fine Art Degree in 2005, for which I was awarded a distinction for investigation of site. I continue to build on this research producing a sculpture in 2019 using 1 ton of rag garments.