Camilla Fischbacher- design director of Christian Fischbacher- setting up the photo shoot for the ‘100 Patterns in 100 Days’ Lookbook by Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson

By Marina Emmanuel

A Malaysian artist and painter found herself stuck in Italy during the Covid lockdowns and separated from loved ones in Penang and other parts of the world.

Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson, who had up till then been spending time at her homes in Penang and Pangkor here, as well as Piedmont in Italy, never imagined that when she left Penang in mid-February 2020 for Italy, it was going to take much longer than usual before she could reunite with loved ones by simply getting on a plane and flying to her next destination.

On March 9, Italy went into total lockdown and Rebecca found herself “home alone.”

“I am an artist so I do paint everyday. But alone in my house, with coronavirus becoming something that fills the mind, painting everyday was a way to make the time pass and to seek a kind of focused peace,” she said.

Malaysian artist and painter Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson

By May 4, she penned:

“My front door is open, the sun is shining, the birdsong is loud and amazingly, an enormous swarm of bees has just flown by.

“A dark cloud that hummed so loudly that I thought a big, slow-moving tractor was driving past.

“I stood outside to watch them swarm into the blooming acacia trees at the back of my house and now the hum is subdued as they feed.”

She was left doing “boundary walks” around the perimeter of her expansive home and its grounds since no one was allowed to leave their homes.

As the pandemic situation continued to remain uncertain, Rebecca began to worry about her family

“My focus wavered and to ground myself, I started the practice of doing one small piece of work each morning when I woke up.

“A pattern a day. I write my morning pages each day, but I needed something a bit more uplifting then just whinging and writing sad things. I decided on colour and pattern, and it gave me the satisfaction of completing a small piece each day.”

From her months in isolation in Italy, emerged expressive works which were inspired by her daily walks in the surrounding area capturing dream-like landscapes, the opulent colourfulness of seasonal change and the richness in detail of nature.

From memory, she also painted symbolic motifs, including a Malayan tiger which features as one of the main designs in a capsule collection.

(A national survey concluded in 2020 reportedly estimated that there remain fewer than 150 wild tigers in Malaysia’s forests, where 3,000 once roamed in the 1950s).

Together with long-time friend Camilla who is also creative director of textile manufacturer, Christian Fischbacher, Rebecca translated her touching library of patterns into textile form.

On its website, here is how the company describes itself:

“For more than two centuries, Christian Fischbacher has been at the heart of the textile industry. We are a family-owned company with headquarters in St. Gallen Switzerland, a centre for the textile industry since the 13th century.

“Our products are created with great attention to detail, a deep-rooted passion for quality materials and a constant drive for creative innovation. Christian Fischbacher interior fabrics, carpets, bedding and home accessories collections are made for luxurious interiors with personality.”

Rebecca’s capsule collection includes ‘DAWON’ the tiger fabric which comes in three-colour ways and embroidered on linen.

She describes the mixture of machine embroidery for the outlines and hand crewelwork for the filling in the vegetation areas, as “really gorgeous.”

“The two tigers on the fabric,”
she says, “were taken from two separate tiger paintings and put together with my vegetation to make this pattern.”

Meanwhile, a carpet called ‘Harimau’ is from a tiger painting which she painter especially for this project, and New Zealand wool is hand-knotted using a Tibetan knot.

“A percentage from the sales of this carpet- which comes in four sizes- is donated to support ‘ Save Wild Tigers’, “ says Rebecca.

The cushions made from ‘DAWON’ fabrics also support ‘Save Wild Tigers’ with a percentage of sales going to them.

“2022, “ notes Rebecca, “was the Chinese year of the Water Tiger.

“It is also my birth year in the Chinese calender. The Malayan Tiger, iconic symbol of Malaysia, my country, is on the brink of extinction.

“It is a tragic reality that in just a few short years, this incredible creature may no longer walk free and wild.

“We have failed this proud, strong and ancient creature.”

Rebecca’s lockdown experience in Italy went on for quite a while longer after that.

She did not return to Malaysia until the end of January 2022.

More details of her work are found at rebeccaduckett.com

The ‘Harimau’ carpet (image taken from fischbacher.com)