Chris Kenny is not an embroidery artist, his work is more
like three dimensional drawings, he takes the line off the page and brings it
into the audience’s space. This illustrated to me how I did not need to be
confined by my two dimensional surface or by what I thought an embroidery
should look like. I experimented with this idea first by pinning shapes and
thread to the wall, using the pins to create different layers and a sense of
depth. I then translated this into my embroideries by couching waxed yarn that
held its shape and did not lie flat on the fabric. Alain de Botton said that
‘Kenny is a master at delicately excising something from its normal setting and
settling it into a diminutive white museum where, hovering an inch or so above
the base, it becomes free to release a hidden narrative or symbolic message’.
This showed me the importance of setting and how a simple line on a white
background can create a strong impact. By framing his lines in a white frame he endows them with a sense of importance – these lines are not purely
decorative they take on an almost symbolic significance when placed within this gallery setting. This showed me a potential setting I could take my embroideries,
and I think that if I enlarged some of my work particularly the embroideries
that focus on simple quality of line, they could be well placed in this context.
Emilio Pucci is a fashion design house, known for their
prints and embroideries. Pucci’s embroideries are a lot more luxurious and
embellished than what I have been doing in this project however I really took
inspiration from their sensitivity to material and thread. Seen here the
combination of bold opaque stitch on a translucent fabric creates an
interesting contrast and unusual aesthetic. I subsequently experimented with
similar fabric and thread combinations. Pucci’s fashion designs showed me how
embroideries can be the main feature
of a piece of clothing and elevate fashion to higher levels. In my embroideries I
have taken inspiration from their elaborate designs and sensitivity to
materials and I think this would be a really interesting context for my
embroideries. It would be interesting to have to consider the other aspects of creating an
embroidery for a garment such as durability, fashion trends and structure of
the garment.
Christine Maueersberger’s embroideries aim to convey the
passing of moments using sewing as the medium. Each stitch serves to be an artefact
and a record of the passing of time. Though her embroideries look like abstract
shapes, they are really maps of time understood only to her. I experimented
with this idea myself in my drawings from Manchester city gallery where I
created a visual code understood only to me relating to the time I spent on a
drawing. Maueersberger exhibits her work in galleries. On first reflection her
embroideries appear to be an exercise in composition, line and shape however
her embroideries are rooted in meaning and symbolism. I had not previously
considered embroidery as works of art like you would might in a gallery,
however researching her work has shown me how embroidery can be just as an
effective as painting or drawing when conveying an idea or theme.
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