by Carla Caruso

The art of breathing new life into old fabrics can be slow and painstaking.

It’s why Mary Jose, who’s worked as a textile conservator for 38 years, relishes her time out in your Adelaide Park Lands.

When she’s not tending to fragile museum pieces or family heirlooms, she’s out enjoying the greenery with her Maltese poodle cross, Cooper.

“I’m a very dedicated Park Lands user,” Mary says. “I live in an apartment in the city, so I walk in the Park Lands every day with my dog – at least once, sometimes twice.

“It’s such a huge gift to Adelaide that we’ve got this open space around the city. Particularly now, when there’s a much higher density of people living in the city, it really is our garden.”

Her apartment isn’t far from her studio, Fabric of Life, in Percy Court, which is open to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays. As well as her restoration work, she sells a selection of handmade textiles from around the world, including India, Uzbekistan, and Indigenous Australian communities.

Mary discovered textile conservation through an art history degree. Such conservation refers to the processes by which textiles are preserved to ensure they can be enjoyed by many generations to come.

“I used to make my clothes at school and things like that,” Mary says. “[But] I always thought there was just painting restoration. I didn’t know there was textile restoration as well.”

She applied to do a postgraduate course at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, winning a place among just six students that year. Her studied were based at Hampton Court Palace, where King Henry VIII once lived. “It was an amazing experience,” Mary says. “I couldn’t believe it was real while I was there.”

She returned to manage Artlab’s textile conservation section before becoming a mum and setting up her own private practice. She’s worked solo ever since.

Her profession is, understandably, quite niche, with only four textile conservators in Adelaide.

Clients have included Carrick Hill, Urrbrae House, the David Roche Foundation, Ernabella Arts, the Art Gallery of SA, and Adelaide Festival Centre.

Much of her work, though, is for individuals.

“I’ve just mounted a Croatian dress that belonged to the client’s grandmother and it’s going to be framed,” Mary says. “I’ve framed christening gowns for people and little children’s dresses.

“One client was in a nursing home and her children had her wedding dress and all the wedding photos framed, so she could have it in her room. There are nice stories behind everything.”

Currently, Mary’s working on a Flemish tapestry for a client, which dates from 1680. It’ll take two-and-a-half months to rejuvenate.

“There are areas where [the weaving has] just disappeared altogether. So, it needs to be rewoven in sections, and then it will be lined and have a new hanging system on the back to support it properly. [The work] is basically all hand sewn. I hardly ever use a machine.”

However, Mary says, “cleaning is the most complex thing that I do because it’s irreversible”. “I have to be very careful deciding whether to clean something and how to do it and do a lot of testing first.

“I make up the detergent to a particular pH, and it depends on what the fibre is … It’s a very slow and careful process [restoring fabrics] – a sort of mixture between organic chemistry and sewing.”

She adds: “I always wish the fabrics could talk to me and tell me about where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing because some of them, like this Flemish tapestry, are so old.

“The client inherited the piece from his parents in South Africa. So, it’s travelled all across the world over hundreds of years.”

To pass the hours while labouring over a project, Mary often listens to podcasts and audiobooks. “I do like historical fiction [and] listening to books set in places that I’ve been or places that are interesting.”

In her spare time, Mary also volunteers. She was on the committee of the APA’s Adelaide Park Lands Art Prize from 2014 until early this year - “one of the most well-funded art prizes in South Australia”.

Now she lends a hand fortnightly to Thread Together, which distributes unsold, new clothing from fashion retailers to people in need.

At other times, as mentioned, she enjoys meandering through the Park Lands. Favourite spots include the Rymill Park Lake in Park 14, the Adelaide Himeji Garden and rose garden in Veale Park / Walyu Yarta (Park 21), and the billabong in G.S. Kingston Park / Wirrarninthi (Park 23).

The place she visits most, though, is King Rodney Park/ Ityamai-itpina (Park 15).

“My husband was called Rodney, and King Rodney Park is my local park. So, it’s actually very nice for me – that kind of link. A different Rodney but … he passed away in 2018.

“It’s a lovely park, always full of birds. Now it’s got disc golf, so it’s quite busy down there. It was quieter when I first moved in, but it’s nice to have the park always full of people.”

Mary continues: “City living for me is perfect. I look out the window at the moment and all the autumn leaves are changing. So, I’ve got this sea of trees with all the autumn leaves coming. The Botanic Park [in Park 11], that’s my view – it’s gorgeous to have all that green.”