Weaver

Saffron Gordon commenced at the ATW in January 2021 as a recipient of the Baillieu Myer AC Scholarship. Over the course of the 2-year scholarship, she worked closely with ATW Senior Weavers, gaining valuable skills and experience in contemporary tapestry practice.

Originally from Edinburgh in Scotland, Saffron discovered her love of tapestry weaving while studying for the Diploma of Arts (Studio Textiles and Design) at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where she received tuition from ATW weavers Joy Smith and Cresside Collette. She completed the course in 2011 with a Major in Tapestry Weaving and a Minor in Experimental Textiles.

Saffron’s art practice explores a range of traditional hand-crafted techniques and has developed over time to include spinning and using natural dyes. Her engagement with continually evolving her textile skills led her to complete a Certificate of Spinning at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria in 2019.

Saffron has exhibited her work within Australia and won numerous awards. These include First Prize in the inaugural Moreland Public Art Show in 2010, and a finalist place in the 2014 South Australian Museum Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize for her experimental crochet. Her tapestry weaving won the Emerging Artist Award in the Australian Tapestry Workshop Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries in 2011, and she was a finalist again in 2019.

Saffron’s two favourite ATW tapestries are Kimberley Under the Stars designed by Trevor Nickolls in 2008 and Ilpili designed by Pepai Jangala Carrol in 2021.