Amanda Haran Derbyshire, United Kingdom
Amanda Haran is a contemporary collaborative, community textile and mixed media artist based in the Midlands, UK. As an empath, psychotherapist, patient soul and committed ‘mingler,’ she uses hand and machine stitches with repurposed items to create individual and group pieces that convey stories, feelings and life events.
Hand and machine embroidery with rubbish creates individual and group pieces with emotional responses at their heart. The journey of execution is more important than perfection.
Born in Bolton, North West England, and as an extended member of Horrockses weaving pioneers, her fascination with art textiles was inevitable. Refined during her teenage years, she won the Susan Mary Simpson Art Prize and Bolton School Prize for Textiles; opting for a Bachelor of Science Degree in Textile Design and Design Management at Manchester (UMIST), she meandered and experimented, gaining a course prize and an Umbro Design Award.
Having used artistic therapeutic pursuits throughout her degree, she began further education in creative therapy, culminating in practitioner qualifications in psychotherapy, stress and anxiety management, mental health first aid, dementia support and domestic abuse. Her knowledge of art textiles, communities, psychology and formal therapy practices has taken her to work alongside various marginalised groups, creating exhibition pieces.
Supporting the City of Culture, the Turner Prize, traditional cultural and educational institutions, community groups and contemporary artists, she has a history of encouraging engagement from those with little or no former cultural appreciation and demystifying complex contemporary art ideas.
Everyone is welcome.
Culture is a doing word.