Cecilia Heffer

I met Cecilia Heffer by chance at the ICA. She has used traditional lace as a design source, working from the collection at the Powerhouse Museum in Sidney and being mentored by historian and lacemaker Rosemary Shepherd.

She had with her a panel of her contemporary lace that was shown in her solo exhibition Laced in 2006. The circles are cut from silk organza, hand printed with traditional Venetian lace braids. These are then machine stitched together to form the wonderfully translucent panels.

She also showed me a picture of the contemporary lace curtains that she designed, for Government House in Sydney, as part of the 'To Furnish a Future Programme'. The lace was actually woven in Scotland on a 100 year old loom linked to a CAD system - a wonderful link between tradition and technology.

Cecilia is currently participating in a Residency at Central St Martins in London.