My art practice We live in a time between what was and what will be – a time of transition and trouble. In a world drowning in waste, I am a forager, collector and hoarder. I improvise, using what I am given and what I already have, to create something new. Old household linens, woollen blankets and discarded woollen clothing form the basis of my creative practice. They bring memories and echoes…

My art practice We live in a time between what was and what will be – a time of transition and trouble. In a world drowning in waste, I am a forager, collector and hoarder. I improvise, using what I am given and what I already have, to create something new. Old household linens, woollen blankets and discarded woollen clothing form the basis of my creative practice. They bring memories and echoes of their past life and evoke feelings of cosiness and comforting childhood memories. I am most known for my standing wool pieces. The wool strips are fluid, and can be coiled, twisted, stacked and stitched. The complexity of fabric and thread merges to form stylised images. I find a wealth of discarded fabrics to use as sadly throw away culture and fast fashion results in vast textile waste piles. How much cosiness can the future hold when human misuse threatens our planet? Through my art, I aim to explore my feelings about our current troubled times and to intrigue and challenge my audience.

Barbara Stephenson (Brisbane 1957) is a maker and art activist working with upcycled materials and found objects. Barbara’s playful approach began in childhood, making art with her artist father and sewing with her mother’s dressmaking scraps. Her art practice has developed from techniques adapted from dressmaking, collage, patchworking, basket weaving and rugmaking. Barbara works with textiles …

Barbara Stephenson (Brisbane 1957) is a maker and art activist working with upcycled materials and found objects. Barbara’s playful approach began in childhood, making art with her artist father and sewing with her mother’s dressmaking scraps. Her art practice has developed from techniques adapted from dressmaking, collage, patchworking, basket weaving and rugmaking. Barbara works with textiles for their texture, colour, and their stories of past use. Her repetitive lines, circles and spirals to explore the balance between naturally formed intricacy and human designed ordered simplicity. Forming and eroding, the stylised images reflecting her hopes and fears for the future.

Solo exhibitions: Colourways: with AJ Gogas. Rosalie Gallery Sept 2025 Safeguard: Warwick Art Gallery July/August 2023 Ebb and Flow: Gatakers Art Space Maryborough, March 2023. Group exhibitions Participant in Art in Bloom: Murrays Art and Framing Toowoomba 2024 Beyond Bounds#2: Darling Downs Textile Art Group Lockyer Valley art Gallery 2024 Wildflowering by Design: Wildflower Woman W…

Solo exhibitions: Colourways: with AJ Gogas. Rosalie Gallery Sept 2025 Safeguard: Warwick Art Gallery July/August 2023 Ebb and Flow: Gatakers Art Space Maryborough, March 2023. Group exhibitions Participant in Art in Bloom: Murrays Art and Framing Toowoomba 2024 Beyond Bounds#2: Darling Downs Textile Art Group Lockyer Valley art Gallery 2024 Wildflowering by Design: Wildflower Woman Warwick 2024. Beyond Bounds: Darling Downs Textile Art Group: Rosalie Gallery Goombungee 2023, Musicale: Darling Downs Art group Warwick Art Gallery 2020 In this Space Lockyer Arts Corp: 2014