Jenny Leary

Born in San Francisco, Jenny studied at Cornell University in New York. After a degree in painting, during which she was always fascinated by manufacturing processes, she went on to study textiles (textile art, design, science) at London's Central Saint Martins.

While there pursuing an MA (Design for Textile Futures), she explored the convergence of fiber science and textile design. After several projects, she discovered a passion for creating novel methods of coding pattern into surface. The idea of magnetic textiles emerged from studying the behaviour of a particularly novel organism: magnetotactic bacteria.

Magnetism turned out to be a rich source of inspiration - one so vast that it promised an endless territory for exploration. On one hand, it presents a challenge to our senses that has motivated philosophers and scientists to dig beneath the surface in search of explanation. The explanation has become increasingly advanced through the years, but is still incomplete. There is always a deeper mystery behind every one uncovered.

This curious fact is 'imported' to the comfortable world of textiles through Ferrofabric research and development. The combination of these two symbols - one representing comfort and the other enchantment - produces the basis for exploring many concepts: physics, history, geology, curiosity, aesthetic, fabrication, and process. Jenny continues to draw on these diverse subjects in search of engaging facts about magnets.