Philippa Ashcroft LSDC

Stitched & Constructed Textiles

About Philippa
Hand-stitched, monochrome artworks that bridge traditional craft and contemporary art. Philippa is a British artist from London with a background in Scenic in Painting for the film industry. After becoming a mother, Philippa reignited her passion for creating and her own art practice has flourished. Her work explores themes of motherhood and neglected elements in nature, creating textured narratives and intricate hand-stitching on pre-used fabrics.
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Drawing inspiration from overlooked elements in nature, Philippa’s work appreciates tiny wonders in the everyday humdrum. Working intuitively but with intention she embraces the slow meditative process of hand-stitching to find calm and stillness in a loud world. Philippa explores themes of memory, motherhood and coping mechanisms, through the tension between tradition and rebellion.

A limited monochrome palette allows focus on the intricate complexities of texture and tone. A piece can take months to create, hundreds of tiny stitches layered and entwined. The process is cathartic and the end result organic and complex, using traditional techniques in a non-conformist style to bridge craft and contemporary art.

Philippa strives to create work with environmental integrity and makes efforts to only use fabric from second hand sources. Alongside her textile art are hand crafted linocut limited edition prints with hand-stitched embellishments. Themes from her textile works overflowing onto paper, ideas echoing in a different medium.

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Education

  • 2002 - BA (HONS) Fine Art (Painting) - Bath school of Art
  • 1999 - Arts Foundation course , Amersham & Wycombe College​​

​​​​​Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2026 - Textile Junction, Electro Studios, East Sussex, UK.
  • ​​2026 - Textiles Explorations, Fox Yard Studio, Suffolk, UK.
  • ​2025 – BEAT (Borough of Ealing Art Trail) Open Studios, OPEN Ealing Arts Centre, London
  • 2025 – Stitch by Stitch, Contemporary Fine Art Textiles, The Willow Gallery, Oswestry, Shropshire
  • 2025 – The Broderers' Exhibition: The Art of Embroidery, Bankside Gallery, London
  • 2024 – Darkness, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
  • 2024 – The Universe Within, Copeland Gallery, Peckham, London (Curated by Latifah A Stranack)
  • 2024 - The Summer Exhibition, Crawley Museum, West Sussex (Curated by Alison Dollery and Sophie Nowakowska)
  • 2024 – Finding Space, OPEN Ealing, London (Curated by Mary Modha)
  • 2022 -2023 – The Covid Chronicle (Touring Exhibition), Sunbury Embroidery Gallery and UK venues (Curated by Wendy Bliss)
  • 2021 – Surface and Depth (Society for Embroidered Work), Palazzo Velli Expo, Rome, Italy

Memberships

  • 2026 - The Society of Designer Craftsmen
  • 2026 - Crafts Council
  • 2020 - The Society for Embroidered Works (S.E.W)

Career experience

  • 2004 - 2026. Senior Prop Painter/Scenic Artist for the film Industry, Freelance
  • 2008 - Artist's Assistant to artist Patrick Hughes for 1 year
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