Artists:  Eddy Carroll, Emma Greenwood, Trudy Inkamala, Liz Payne, Demelza Sherwood, Jeanette Stok, Sera Waters and Historical works from The Embroiderers’ Guild of Queensland Inc

Artisan, Brisbane

3rd August – 15 September, 2018

Exhibition essay

Work included:

Reflection, 2016, Single channel video projection, table, table cloth, 1030 mm (l) x 600 ( w) x 760 (h).

Protection, 2018, Galvanised wire and wire mesh,730 mm (l) x 550 ( w) x 350 (h).

A significant proportion of my arts practice involves the construction of wire sculptures that translate a Norwegian embroidery technique called hardanger, into wire. Linen cloth and thread has been replaced with three layers of gridded wire mesh and 0.7 mm diameter galvanized wire. The wire gives the embroidery a depth due to its limited malleability, looping around the mesh rather than sitting flat. The wire allows me to explore new possibilities: stitches impossible to perform with thread; and three-dimensional sculptural forms that naturally hold their shape. From a distance this wire embroidery appears shiny, delicate and smooth but upon closer inspection the scratchy sharp edges are revealed. By modifying this embroidery technique with wire, I can explore ideas of barriers, adaptation and strength, while maintaining the connotations of the domestic inherent within needlework.