Billy Mann
This is an edited selection of works, if you would like to see more or purchase an artwork please get in touch
The Artist
Stitchwork came to Billy during the Pandemic lockdown of 2020. “Like a lot of people at the time I felt lost. Stitching became a way to be alone with some kind of purpose attached to it. It’s very anchoring, very peaceful.” Billy first started stitching simple shapes and patterns, often derived from maps, but later started what he calls drawing in stitch. “When I’m drawing or painting, I work quite fast. You can't do that with stitchwork. You have to play the long game, which means each piece is a kind of journey you settle into and grow with.” Billy quickly found a preference for stitching images of people, often from drawings by his fellow artists at Submit to Love. “For me, each figure is a character. I like to imagine myself as an actor, playing the character, and that influences the threads, the stitches and the fabrics I choose. Every new stitchwork is a new beginning. Even though I've enn stitching for a while now I still think I’m a beginner, exploring shapes and stitches, discovering new paths to take.” Billy's stitchwork has appeared in exhibitions at the Barbican and Burgh House. He is currently working in partnership with Submit to Love's Queen of Wonky Sam Jevon.
Exhibitions:
2016, Submit to Love, Stratford Circus, London
2017, Making Faces, Southbank Centre, London
2021, Common Threads, Autograph Gallery, London
2023, The Power of Transformation, Burgh House, London
2023, Differently Various, Barbican, London
2024, Differently Various In Different Spaces, UCLH, London
Workshop Facilitator
My workshops are all designed to start conversations about art, to explore how art is made, to question who makes it and who exhibits it, and to have a lot of fun. They can be completed literally by anyone – including those who claim to have no “artistic” skills – and rely on simple processes using very basic materials to create something that looks great. The workshops all take the Submit to Love motto, “Discovery Through Art”, as their starting point.
Wax monoprints > Make Your Own Mona Lisa
Wax monoprints > Cut Price Portraits
Clay > Pinch Pot Portraits
Stitch > Community Stitch - in
MORE FROM BILLY MANN
mail Bonding
A collaboration with Riera Studio, Cuba
Cut Price Portrait tutorial
In collaboration with the Barbican Centre
Billy mann x Monash UNiversity
Curating Collections with Art Et Al