Alysn Midgelow-Marsden (she/her) is a New Zealand based artist with a Northern European heritage. Her works are your invitation to create intimate connections with personal experiences through subconscious and viscerally emotive interactions by walking a narrow path between concept and aesthetics. There is a special union in the work between technical expertise and an enquiring mind. Her works stretch traditional definitions between sculpture, installation, textile, video and wall based works. Alysn is driven by curiosity about the human psyche, science and social stereotypes surrounding textile and stitch. Many of her current works are generated through her proximity to the coast and the marine environment linking to her Marine Biology and Biochemistry training.
Alysn is currently one of three invited artists in The Beach 2025. She has created a wonderful array of works from small gift cards right through to 3D wall works and vessels.
Here is a small taste of her eclectic practice. These works are on the gallery webshop.
We were first introduced to Alysn’s works when she was selected as one of the artists in the Surface Design Association Regional Exhibition – Time which was the closing exhibition in the gallery for 2024. Her work was called: Inadvertent Disassembly, created in 2024. About this work Alysn writes:
Working across textile and sculpture creates work which celebrate connections. Stainless
steel, brass, copper, bronze cloths, iron wires and gilding metal are used and the muted
hugs of oxidising patinas and heat treatments emerge as silent storytellers, whispering
tales of transformation over time. Intertwining lines, structures and patterns create a
mesmerising quality embodying captured feelings. The work encapsulates both the
physical and the psychological and is an invitation to embrace your personal dialogues.
Materials: Wall based piece in metal fabric, thread, wire, paint and patina.
Dimensions: 58cm x 32cm
Resume.
Alysn Midgelow-Marsden is a highly competent and widely experienced freelance artist in fine art textiles, a published author of art and craft books, tutor and arts mentor and gallery director. Her skills have been proven in over 30 years of working in the creative industries. Her artistic profile extends internationally through her books, exhibitions, installations and film.
Alysn’s fine art textile work is shown and sold regularly at galleries, art festivals and shows including both solo and group exhibitions. Working to commissions for individual clients includes wedding and special occasion clothing, commemorative panels, corporate environments, books etc.
Alysn is a freelance tutor and speaker delivering workshops and presentations to professional artist groups, Universities and Colleges, embroiderers’ guilds, patchwork and quilters guilds, colleges, art centres and private groups.
Recent awards for selected exhibitions include: Estuary Art and Ecology Award (Aotearoa/New Zealand) for ‘Mitigation at the Margins’; Mandurah Wearable Art (Australia) for ‘What Lies Beneath’; ‘Wall Brooches II’ (Australia) for ‘Taniwha’; ‘Changing Threads’ (Aotearoa/New Zealand) for ‘The Space Between VII’.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alysnmmart/