A Pause in the Rhythm of Time was Alice Kettle’s first major solo exhibition in the United States. The exhibition presented a substantial group of large-scale machine embroideries, shown at the Belger Arts Center.
A major work in the presentation was Towers, a large-scale textile triptych created in response to the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, which was subsequently gifted by the artist to the Belger Collection, where it remains.
The exhibition also included Pause (2009), depicting four female figures representing the artist and her daughters set against the four seasons. Three works from 2007—Ormopethesis, Nepenthe and Orothopendorosis—were shown as well, each partly produced using the Schiffli Embroidery Machine at Manchester Metropolitan University, where Kettle was a Research Associate.
Alongside large embroideries, the exhibition presented works on paper and ceramics made in collaboration with Stephen Dixon. It also introduced the Head series—Head I, Head II and Cele (2008)—textile portraits constructed from cut and collaged cloth and accompanied by related drawings. These works marked a departure from Kettle’s earlier large-format embroidered compositions.
The exhibition coincided with the Surface Design Association’s conference, “Off the Grid,” and highlighted key developments in Kettle’s practice at that time.