The way that textile artist Billie Zangewa works as an artist is quite unique. She uses her kitchen space in her house to construct her materials and carry out her practice. The atmosphere is very light because of the large windows she has on the wall next to the sink. This gives her the best lighting to make work in.
Billie Zangewa uses her “kitchen studio” when she’s sat working, because she can see the nature in her garden through her kitchen window. Nature gives her inspiration and gives her a sense of calmness and serenity which is transferred into her work. The atmosphere of working in her home gives Zangewa the comfort and familiarity she needs to create her art, which is her form of self therapy. Billie Zangewa’s Heart of the Home shows her working in her kitchen with her son. It also shows the kitchen table she uses as her studio space. The reason she uses her home as her studio is because it’s close to her son, and the nature outside, which she uses to “keep Zen” and calm herself to create her silk collages. The brightness of the kitchen allows Zangewa to get in the right headspace to create her artwork. She observed how mothers in her family cared for their children and homes, transferring this into her collages. The familiarity of her studio space acts as a shelter from the outside world; where in which she can create works with a positive influence rather than highlighting the negative impact of social issues she has as a black woman. The basic wooden table allows her to create on a “blank canvas”.
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