I’m sharing this textiles experiment that I’ve just completed. It’s a direct progression from the work I’ve been doing exploring household materials and using them create abstract collages – old textiles, wallpaper, etc.
I’m really interested in embroidery and how in the past it could be taken as a marker of accomplishment or value for women – and how in very recent times there’s been a revival in traditional crafts such as embroidery, embracing it with new meaning for a new era.
When travelling last year I spent some time with my children admiring the 16th to 19th cent embriodery samplers and lace collection in the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence, awed by the beauty, intricacy and hard work contained within each.
I knew on returning I wanted to expand my practice towards the realm of textiles – though it has to be said I’m historically rather a disaster-area where textiles-based craft is concerned – from the wonky waistcoat I made when at primary school, to my recent fumbling attempts at spinning and knitting…
Using cross stitch appealed to me as we have, I think, some fairly set (twee, traditional) ideas about what it is and should be (though there are a few folk working with it in unusual ways – like the subversive cross stitch samplers with witty messages, cross stitching on giant peg boards, and unusual subject matter, such a Mexican sugar skulls). You don’t necessarily associate it with Textile Art in quite the same ways as other embroidery techniques… Also I’d had a little tinker with it years ago (taught to me by a kind soul during work experience in an art shop as a child), so I knew I could limit disaster.
I also like the graphic nature of cross stitch, as you’ll know from previous posts on making abstract work, I enjoy the challenge of working with limitations and restrictions when making work – and whilst there are a wide number of stitches you can make, there is a finite amount. The lines and grids suggest certain things, you have to make decisions wether to be driven by them or disregard them.
I noticed with cross stitch people don’t often tend to treat the aida fabric before working on it. There are of course commercially dyed variations on the usual white of cream that you can purchase, and I’ve seen blogs documenting how to custom colour or dye the fabric yourself… but it seems to generally be with a flat colour. With my mind working from a painting / paper-based art point of view, it seemed to be a missed opportunity – and something I could exploit to increase the amount of texture that I enjoy including in my work.
I hate saying I’ve had an original thought on something, as there’s just no such thing, you know the law of averages says someone else out there has come up with it too…
I took one of the techniques I use for my collages – spraying with acrylic paints through salvaged textiles – and applied it to the aida. I’m really pleased with how well it took, stiffening the fabric was a sideline benefit, as I was able to work easily without needing to use a embroidery hoop or frame (thought he side I’ve held more is considerably softer now that at the start).
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| Untitled textile experiment using embroidery silks and sprayed acrylic on 6 count cotton aida fabric, 12 x 18″. |