Harriet Goodall

b. Yass, NSW, Australia 1975
Lives and works in Dharawal-Gundungarra country, Robertson, NSW

Raised on a large farm in rural Australia, Harriet Goodall explores belonging and connection by creating work with texture and patina, utitlising natural materials, weaving and welded sculpture. Her work in metal and fibre transforms techniques from traditional basketmaking and tapestry into contemporary sculpture. The similitude of patterns in the landscape and human mark making are expressed through the laborious nature of weaving, the basket and textiles acting as metaphor for confinement including the demarcation of women and fencing off land.

Meditative, tactile practices of weaving, stitching and encaustics are central to her work; she takes ancient global traditions and melds them using metalwork techniques like welding, brazing and riveting which she saw her father use on the farm. Harvesting plant materials, ochres, and earth pigments from the bush, salvaging agricultural off casts and recycled metal, she creates works with a focus on balance, patina and shadow that speak of a respect for the landscape of her youth.

Harriet has had commissioned pieces in private and commercial collections, created installations for public display, and is regarded as a forerunner in the world of sculptural fibre and basketry as art. She has taught thousands of people to weave over 14 years in Australia and internationally but she would define her personal practice as emerging. She held her first very successful solo show in 2019.

Her passion for woven cloth and textiles was forged on travels through the Himalaya and Andes birthing a fair-trade exchange with indigenous weavers across South America which ignited a passionate advocacy for indigenous weaving and natural dyes. She regularly works with Aboriginal communities and Arts Organisations to help them re-discover knowledge around native plants and practice. She has studied under well- known masters including Virginia Kaiser, Jim Walliss, India Flint and Anita Larkin along with masters of bamboo in Japan and Vietnam. In recent years, she has taught at art retreats in the USA, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia.

View Artist CV