Following an open call for applications in Autumn 2022, Erin McQuarrie was awarded a 3-week funded residency. Cove Park’s programme of funded residencies support research, the development of existing and new projects, collaboration, interdisciplinary practice, and the production of new work and ideas. All national and international artists, cultural practitioners, and researchers, working individually and collaboratively in all art forms, in the creative industries, and across disciplines, were eligible to apply. Cove Park’s residencies also support individuals at every stage in their careers.

Erin McQuarrie is a textile artist based in Glasgow. She believes ancient methods of making provide an innovative means of interpreting and responding to contemporary life. Through textiles McQuarrie reacts to the everyday – the language of warp and weft is her vocabulary, providing an antithesis to our fast-paced consumerist society and a platform for historical recovery.  

She completed her MFA in Textiles at Parsons School of Design, NYC (2021) and her BFA at The Glasgow School of Art (2018). Her work has been exhibited internationally, including Jane Lombard Gallery, Mana Contemporary, The Royal Scottish Academy, Urban Zen Foundation, New York Textile Month and NYPL.  McQuarrie was awarded a UK/US Fulbright Scholarship (2019/20), Carnegie Trust – St. Andrew’s Society of The State of NY Scholarship (19/20), The Dorothy Waxman International Textile Prize – Special Mention (2021), NYFA Public Engagement grant (2021), the Lenore G. Tawney Scholarship at Peters Valley School of Craft (2021) and the Inches Carr Trust Award (2022). 

At Cove Park, Erin will research the ancient and universal act of spinning fiber. Exploring its physicality and connection to Scottish culture, to inspire the development of handwoven sculptural tapestries.

Images provided by the artist.