About - Jane McKeating

Jane McKeating uses drawing, print and stitch to search for and play with narratives. The tactile surfaces depict universal themes in everyday life telling visual stories. Jane is continually absorbed in the relationship between figures and the spaces they inhabit, often presented through sequences of images. Drawing is central to Jane’s creative practice, and she moves between media to make work at a variety of scales. Sketchbooks are in important part of her creative thinking process and the stories usually start between the pages of her books.

Utilising print processes and collage to translate drawn images onto a variety of cloths and papers, she works with them using a series of processes of addition and subtraction. Using a mixture of print methods including waterless lithography, screenprint and monotype she moves back and forward through processes by erasing, distorting and layering marks. The use of print enables images to be endlessly repeated, so frequently drawn characters and objects appear over time in many different guises and scales.

Jane is interested in the haptic qualities of stitch and cloth and her textiles emerge from an exploration of the relationship between touch and vision. Her synaesthesia impacts upon the use of colour and this is explored through the intensity of handstitched patternmaking, resulting in richly coloured and highly tactile surfaces.

Jane studied Textiles at Goldsmiths College, London, graduating in 1983 and moving on to Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester School of Art) where she gained an MA in Textiles in 1984. Since then, her work has taken many forms for exhibition and commission. Initially large-scale machine embroidered wall hung pieces, followed by collections of small rag books and textile and paper products. Most recently Jane has been working on mixed media pieces. Jane exhibits nationally and internationally and enjoys teaching workshops and giving talks about her practice.

Following 20 years of teaching, leading the BA(Hons) Embroidery programme, and 10 years as Associate Head of Design at Manchester School of Art, Jane is now pursuing a career as a full-time artist.

Jane is a member of the 62 Group of Textile artists and the Textile Study Group. she works from her studio at home in Stockport, and at Suite studios in Salford. Jane prints at Hotbed Press. In 2024 Jane undertook a professional development online drawing year with the Royal Drawing School.

Jane jointly authored ‘Machine Stitch Perspectives’ (A and C Black 2010) and the companion volume ‘Hand Stitch Perspectives’ (Bloomsbury 2013) with Alice Kettle.