Ptolemy Mann

Ptolemy Mann's work first stuck my eye because of her bold use of colour and unusual combinations of colour. She is a woven textile designer known for her use and knowledge of colour. All of her textile work is hand dyed in her signature ikat style and hand woven on a 'Dobby' loom, then stretched over frames and placed within public, corporate and domestic spaces. Her textile installations are created with their intended location in mind, using surrounding colours and scenery to directly inform the colours and form of the piece. Her understanding of colour theory enables her to create pieces that suit its context and evoke particular feelings from the viewers. For example her collaborations with architects and interior designers as a colour consultant means she has had to develop colour palettes for buildings such as hospitals. For inspiration for the hospital's exterior facade she used the surrounding scenery, leading her to use blues and greens to help connect the building to its location. The colours are also used for practicality as well as for aesthetics, as the colours are blended to gradually guide people to a certain building section, e.g. one of the towers was green, so surrounding buildings will have more green on them building up to the tower to lead people towards it. This shows that Mann uses colour as a tool as well as for decoration particularly in terms of psychological well-being in health care environments as she's interested in the way that colours can impact people's health and mood. An example of this occurred in a US hospital where many visitors felt unwell after spending time there due to a specific shade of lavender that was used throughout the decoration of the hospital. After the eye has had a concentrated burst of a single colour the optic nerve triggers an image of the complementary opposite colour, which in the lavender's case triggered an image of the colours of vomit and bile which caused people to feel unwell. Mann's aim is to create areas of optimism within these buildings by using colours that trigger good moods and health.

Mann's practice of stretching fabric over a frame originated in her studies at the Royal College of Art which tutors thought would diminish the fabric's drape and fluidity but in fact led Mann to explore the architectural aspect of textiles and consequently to collaborations with architects, where she has applied her knowledge of colour and texture to places and projects where textiles were not used at all.

Source http://www.ptolemymann.com/art_statement.php
http://www.ptolemymann.com/design_statement.php

Looking at Ptolemy Mann's work has opened my eyes to the concept of colour theory and how much of an impact it can have on your work and the reactions from viewers. I think I'd like to look at colour theory in more detail, and how it's used in textiles now and historically in different cultures and the meanings and feelings it can evoke.