Yumo Yuan, Exhibition, London
Yumo Yuan is originally from Northeast China and moved to London to complete a degree in Textiles Design at Central Saint Martins, from which he graduated in 2023.
Yuan uses weaving to explore ways of bringing traditional
craftsmanship, symbolism and storytelling into a contemporary textile field.
His weaving practice draws inspiration from eighteenth-century warp-print techniques. Rather than printing directly onto the warp, he hand-paints patterns onto the silk warp before weaving the weft threads, allowing for more freedom and creating a soft, blurred, and painterly effect through the natural re-shifting of tension in the newly formed textile. His work is deeply
influenced by antique Chinese folk textiles and objects he sources from flea markets. Alongside his studio practice, Yumo has spent over ten years sourcing and collecting antique textile objects and garments from flea markets, with a particular focus on Chinese folk art.
Through close observation of historical materials, his work explores fabric as a form of storytelling, using pattern, structure, colour, and technique to carry memory, symbolism, and lived experience into contemporary contexts. Through his practice, Yumo aims to position Chinese narratives within the broader history of modern design.
“What sets textiles apart is their deep connection to material memories,” Yuan says. “Fabrics carry history, and they evoke personal memories, emotions, and a tactile sense of the past, making them a powerful medium for
storytelling.”
Expanding Yumo’s investigations into mystic objects and symbols, the exhibition features a number of reupholstered historical pieces from the gallery as well as bespoke luminaries featuring his weaving as shades.
Throughout the gallery, works hang and drape in frames, doors, screens and windows. Alongside new works from the artist, Spazio Leone exhibits a number of pieces from its archive, exploring ways of making, living and
themes of the everyday.
