WORK OF THE WEEK: Justine Randall, The Night Sky Tapestries

‘Our moods and feelings are affected by light, we’re scared of the dark yet excited by the prospect of what the evening has to offer, shadows distort, light shifts, familiar areas become unknown and unconquered. The temperature drops. Fear mounts, sleep beckons, consciousness drifts, what’s real versus the unreal. The difference becomes blurred. Vision is hazy. I’m examining the conscious as well as the unconscious. The perception between what is seen, felt and what is experienced.’ - Justine Randall

Justine Randall has always been aware of and reactive to the world around her. The passing of time from day to night, the changing of the seasons and the ways in which nature's colour palette shifts, dissipates, and re-emerges anew have a direct effect on her emotions and psyche. With her chosen medium of textiles, where 'colour seems more real and vital' she has encompassed these fluctuations in light, temperature, colour and emotion in her Night Sky Tapestries. The series consists of five large wall hangings, which we may follow chronologically through the course of a night from Dusk to 7am Early Spring.

There is a contrast between the density of the tapestries, and the transient moments of light that they portray. The variations between the intensity of different yarns are each to Randall’s specifications. She sources all her wool sustainably from British sheep, and dyes her own yarn, affording her an intimate understanding with her medium. The depth of colour which can be achieved with weaving, in combination with the large scale of these tapestries and Randall's acute attention to detail, grants the pieces an intensity that is rarely achieved in paint.

Between 1986 and 1988 Randall studied at the Royal College of Art under Mary Farmer, who oversaw the movement of the Tapestry Course into the School of Fine Art. The fact that Randall was taught in the Fine Art Department, as opposed to a specific Textile Course, can be seen in her use of colour and composition, which has a painterly, abstract quality.

Justine Randall
5, The Night Sky: Dusk
2018
Wool, cotton warp
170 x 170 cm
66 ⅞ x 66 ⅞ in.

‘I was in a friends garden that had a distant view of the city, the lights from the city created a streak of light pollution, a brilliant yellow green stripe just above the horizon, combined with the glorious blue sky it inspired me to weave this piece.’
(Justine Randall)

Dusk is often the time when the sky is the most vivid shade of blue, it denotes the start of evening and the end of the working day. Like the line of light tightly woven at the bottom of this tapestry, Dusk represents feelings of excitement and apprehension, the tension of potential for what the night ahead may bring.

Justine Randall
4, The Night Sky: Midnight, Moonlight & Shadows
2016
Wool, cotton warp
170 x 170 cm
66 ⅞ x 66 ⅞ in.

'Fear, shapes in the dark, distortion, the light casts shadows, familiar sights become unreal. Trees merge as one and appear differently, even one’s own shadow can appear menacing.' (Justine Randall)

Randall calls into question why darkness causes so much discomfort, disorientation and fear. By opting for a thicker weft, Midnight, Moonlight & Shadows exudes a weighted presence, much like the oppressive feeling of standing beneath a great tree at night. The grey lines are the shadows cast by the moon, falling on only the uppermost surfaces of the trees.

Justine Randall
3, The Night Sky: Firstlight
2018
Wool, cotton warp
160 x 170 cm
63 x 66 ⅞ in.

Firstlight represents the time between 3-4am; the liminal space between night and morning, often people who are sad, anxious or can’t sleep will awaken at this time. Eerily, it is also the time when nursing homes and hospitals record their highest number of deaths.

The tapestry 'depicts a window frame with an out of focus centre, like thick fog, a weightless substance where the thoughts of people who can’t sleep or the souls of dead bodies can reach through to the other side.' (Justine Randall)

Justine Randall
2, The Night Sky: Daybreak
2017
Wool, cotton warp
168 x 170 cm
66 ⅛ x 66 ⅞ in.

Light is approaching and colours are beginning to come into focus. Thin strips of colour sporadically appear throughout this work, perhaps representative of the potential colours, happenings and emotions of the day to come.

The greyish white stripes across the surface of the tapestry are the lights of day approaching, and everything’s becoming sharper and more distinct. Not unlike how a car window humidifier works, the heat of morning is making the night disappear.

Justine Randall
1, The Night Sky: 7am Early Spring
2019
Wool, cotton warp
170 x 170 cm
66 ⅞ x 66 ⅞ in.

Whilst the preceding tapestries explore feelings of excitement, solitude, and fear, 7am Early Spring offers feelings of happiness and peace. The liberation from darkness reflects the liberation of oppressive, heavy emotion. The great expanse of blue sky and high clouds promotes feelings of clarity and the optimism a new day brings. As the artist explains, ‘I love looking at the sky and the different permutations of cloud and colour, and the variety and depth of blues, greys and white, Turner’s skies are dramatic, wild and violent with colours that defy reality, but I am focusing on the calm, happiness inducing elements of stillness, lazy days and warm days walking in the sun.’ (Justine Randall)

Justine Randall: Tapestries is on exhibition in the Main Gallery until the 12th April 2026. To book a visit, or to find out more, please enquire below:

Photography of the individual tapestries: © Justine Randall, Courtesy of Paul Dixon and Rocio Chacon