Marianne kemp is specialized in weaving with horsehair.

The hair comes in bundles from Mongolia via China to England, where it is processed and finally send to Marianne.

Kemp is making the most beautiful patterns, wall panels and objects in all colours.
During her final project at the Art academy she used the theme; Bringing outside - inside, I have been experimenting with dried plant fibers and with horsehair. I remember there was a small factory in the east of Holland where they use horsehair.

With a large package under my arm I took the train back home.

After graduation Marianne got a scholarship and left to study at the Chelsea College of Art & Design London. A year later, in 2000, after finishing her study she got back to weaving with horsehair. 'Several companies were enthusiastic about my designs, so I decided to stay in England.' Than she got in contact with John Boyd Textiles, a professional horsehair-weaving company, that is based in Castle Cary since 1837.

It is here that the horsehair is processed, dyed and mechanically woven into fabric and upholstery.

Till 1870 the weaving was done by hand by children. When in 1870 the compulsory education law was introduced in England, John Boyd was obliged to weave mechanically. The factory looks dilapidated but that is just appearance.

The atmosphere is nostalgic and old. About 15 looms are making the same rhythmic sound. Close by the horsehair is getting dyed in new colours: bright blue, green and purple. Kemp has regular contact with the colleagues in the factory.

I design new patterns for John Boyd. The patterns the weavers were working with, are about 100 years old. Because John Boyd is a factory, they don’t do the designing themselves. That is what I do, because I know exactly the possibilities with the horsehair.
Marianne receives the processed and colored horsehair form the John Boyd factory. They get it delivered from Mongolia. A part of the tail is cut off, otherwise it is getting too long and gets stuck between the wheels of the working carts. In China the hair gets disinfected, processed and pressed to straighten it. Through John Boyd I get the hair sent to me in bundles. There are two similar weaving companies in the world, Boyd is the only one that dyes the hair. At the studio of Marianne Kemp, a stone's throw from the sea and beach, she is making the most beautiful artworks of the hair.

The labour-intensive work is visible when you take a look closer.

Because the horsehair has a certain stiffness and shine to it, interesting textures exist that are not possible to create with normal yarn. From plain to colourful. From wall hangings to lampshades and fringes for curtains.

Kemp is the only artist in Holland that works with horsehair this way and maybe the only one in Europe.

A while ago she bought a loom via e-bay, from a man that used to have a weaving shop in Amsterdam in the sixties. I design the techniques and patterns of the weavings myself.

Experimenting is a very important part of the process. I’m still not finished with discovering all the possibilities and techniques that are possible on the loom. My interest is mainly in creating new textures and structures with the horsehair and plant fibers.

The most interesting designs I develop further into a bigger object or panel.

With this I go to interior designers, for whom I work out a ordered design or technique in the colors they want. They produce my weavings further into a product. My experimental / free work is a lot more complicated and labour intensive. In these the original weaving-technique is hardly visible.Working with horsehair is for the time being, endless.