A keen collaborator with both people and place, Ali spent 2016 engaging with her environment to create an ephemeral artwork every day for 365 days.

Pattern to Print is the next chapter in Ali’s artistic practice as these curious contemplations now become the inspiration for a greater body of print works.

Pattern to Print explores the creative process of developing her work beginning from the patterns Ali finds in her environment, to the selection of her chosen medium, to the final work that reveals elements of the source, medium and process" Manning Regional Art Gallery director, Rachel Piercy says.

Rutile patterns in the sand and petite petals find their way onto fabrics, while rocks repeat on bespoke wallpapers, and old linoleum and x-ray film find a new purpose as plates.

Each design tells the story of Ali’s engagement with her surrounds as she considers the landscape in both a topographical and metaphysical sense.

Ali Haigh is a contemporary Australian printmaker who studied at the University of Technology in Sydney, gaining a solid understanding of screen printing and repeat fabric design.

Over the years Ali’s fascination with the printmaking medium has led her to further study and experimentation in the more traditional areas of etching, linocut, collagraphs and monotypes.

Ali’s print works combine a mastery of technique, a love of textiles and a ‘curious enquiry’ into the creative process of generating ideas.

While there always seems to be a divide between art and craft, the status of quilt making has risen in the past 30 or so years to be a regular star in the gallery scene.

From the early 1980s, many quilt makers began pushing the boundaries with techniques and materials, sometimes horrifying the traditionalists.

Australian quilt makers set their work apart from others by their use of colour and symbolism. Modern quilt artists often reject the traditional design elements of pattern and repeat formats and many of these works represent issues of the environment, multicultural themes and social debates.

The Australian Quilt exhibition features a number of quilts from the Colours of Australia collection owned by Quilt NSW, and quilts made by Manning Valley quilt artists.

“Quilting is an age old craft with a strong following. We wanted to bring to our gallery a collection of iconic Australian quilts to inspire our gallery visitors,” Rachel Piercy says.

Pattern to Print and The Australian Quilt will officially open on Friday, October 20 at 6pm, in conjunction with the opening. Tickets for the opening event are $10 (adults) and $7 for Friends of the Gallery.  Both exhibitions run until Sunday 26 November, and admission after opening night is free.

To keep up to date with exhibitions and to book for events visit our website, www.manningregionalartgallery.com.au and follow us on Facebook.