"I love to hand embroider in a painterly way and feel that textile art is often over looked when it comes to ‘fine art’ categories"
This is the first self portrait I have ever made. I found out I was pregnant just as I had the idea to begin it therefore I felt like this was a great time to explore how I felt about myself, both physically and mentally. I sketched my portrait, created a heat pen transfer onto light calico and then, using a palette of threads I painstakingly hand stitched the piece over seven months. I wanted the piece to look like a sketch with Impressionistic and Fauvist influence. The green hue of the palour of my skin was a reference to my ‘alien’ state of growing a new human
(and a hint to my awful morning sickness!). I wanted the clothing to appear flatter and more 2D in comparison to the portrait and hair structure in order for it to feel confusing in it’s dimensions. I love to hand embroider in a painterly way and feel that textile art is often over looked when it comes to ‘fine art’ categories, therefore I enjoy it when people are unable to tell that my pieces have been hand stitched on the first glance.
It is really important to elevate and appreciate textiles art and especially embroidery. As embroidery takes such a great amount of patience and effort, it can be a very unforgiving medium yet it’s potential to work both as a worn art form as well as traditionally hung like a painting lends it a flexibility.
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