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After weeks of research I developed a concept as a common link between the tapestries. Through the designs I show the importance and relevance of Nobel Prize work to ongoing research, highlight a commitment to science, innovation and technology at ANU. I use key black and white images to celebrate the original Nobel Prize research, and contrast these with contemporary new technology colour enhanced digital images to evoke present and future research.

Valerie Kirk undertook post-graduate studies in Art and Design at Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland, winning the Andrew Grant Travel Award , Helen Rose Bequest Prize and HRH Prince Charles Award of Merit. She came to Australia in 1979 to work as a weaver at The Victorian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne. Further work in Australia included residencies, exhibitions, commissions, community tapestry projects, workshops/ lecturing in schools, colleges, Aboriginal communities and with the Flying Art School. In 2000 she received an MA(Hons) from the University of Wollongong. Her work has taken her to many countries including Japan, Egypt, Thailand, Vietnam, Lao PDR, USA, NZ, Canada and in 1992 she received a VACB Award to attend and present work at “Distant Lives-Shared Voices”, Poland.

Her work has been presented in many solo and group exhibitions including Centaur Gallery, London, “Traditions Revisited” Craft ACT, ”Tapisserie en Ecosse”, France and tour, “Contemporary Imagery/Ancient Tradition” Washington, USA and tour, “Surface”, Stella Downer Fine Art, Sydney. Major tapestries have been commissioned for The Shipley Museum and Art Gallery and Fergusons Industrial Holdings, UK and The Ararat Gallery, Victoria. Work is held in collections nationally and internationally including the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, the National Gallery of Australia, ArtsLoan UK. Telos, GB published the book “Valerie Kirk” Portfolio Collection in 2003.

At present Valerie Kirk is Head of Textiles, at the ANU School of Art and President of Craft ACT, and a member of the International Tapestry Journal Editorial Panel.

In design I use my creative abilities to find visual solutions. It is a rich and diverse area of exploration with the potential to enhance our interaction with everyday objects and our surroundings. I have applied my design skills to textiles, fashion, community and commissioned tapestries.

In 2004 I was commissioned by The Australian National University to design and weave three tapestries as a gift to University House for the Jubilee Year. The design brief stated that the three tapestries would celebrate Nobel Prizes associated with ANU: Peter C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel for discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defense; Howard Walter Florey for the discovery, isolation and therapeutic application of penicillin; Sir John Carew Eccles for discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane.