Lawrence James Bailey

Dance Before The Storm

“I wanted some undefined woodland deity. Then, when I finished it, I almost didn’t post it - I thought it was too peculiar.”

Lawrence James Bailey doesn’t just draw, he builds. He collects first. Then he sews. Found fabric — old textiles, forgotten and worn — becomes objects. Objects become images. Images become stories.

“I use a sewing machine in a loose, painterly manner to produce two dimensional imagery, yet the properties of textiles also allow me to cut, join, and form the work in a sculptural way. The materials I use add a further dimension to the images I create. Textiles can possess a varying degree of softness or roughness, fragility and vulnerability. I can use these qualities to tell stories or create feelings in ways which I never could using paint on a canvas.”

Lawrence weaves together many things. Revolution and ruin. Romanticism and Pop. Fantasy, sci-fi, cults, and survival. Mountains and wastelands. Reformation and pandemic. He stitches it all together: beauty, dirt, and uncertainty.

“I initially try to do as much shading as possible with coloured fabric, like how a painter blocks in colour. I then use the threads to soften the edges, to blend or to add detail.”

He planned Dance Before The Storm in the long days of summer. It was meant for an exhibition in Den Helder. Then the sewing machine broke. The deadline slipped away and he took other work instead. This one sat, waiting. Months passed. At the start of the year, he picked it up again. The stitching took a week, paced in bursts - too many hours at the machine wears on the hands, the eyes. Step back, return, keep the thread moving. In January, the last stitch was set.

“The raw textures and frayed edges in my textiles echo a world unraveling — social order slipping, leaving us exposed. But they also hint at renewal. Imperfection isn’t just decay; it’s the untamed beauty of being human.”

Lawrence James Bailey
Dance Before The Storm, 2025
Textile appliqué and embroidery on wooden stretcher, 56 x 39cm

www.lawrencejamesbailey.com
@lawjamba