As a major show of her work opens in Middlesbrough, the artist looks back on a career inspiring reactions ranging from from wistfulness to anger
Jacqueline Poncelet shudders as she recalls her shocking treatment from parts of the art world earlier in her career. It was while she was making art from carpet remnants and there were people who hated it with a passion.
“It was very upsetting because people responded so viscerally,” she says. “They had such strong opinions. You can’t imagine how emotional they were. I’ve always had some supporters within the art world but at the same time have had some people who were so against me, which was very upsetting. You’re having to take on this extraordinary negativity and a kind of anger. It has taken me literally years to find a way of talking about them that liberated me from their … well, I can’t even find the words to describe what they were doing.”
