As usual, about two thirds of the exhibits left me cold, but the others were great. The ones I liked were Ann Wilson's beautifully mounted squares of double damask, where the damaged area had been embellished by tiny blanket stitch around the hole, then the most minuscule seeding in blue (or brown/red/orange) like a shooting star. The three pieces were about 24 x 18" and the holes varied from 2p, 20p and cigarette burn size. Delightful.
Ann Wilson.
Vanda was really impressed by Mary Sibande's work from South Africa which commented on the role of the maid servant, the all-encompassing nature of her role and how she worked with her mother. Vanda liked the size of the exhibit and the appropriate use of space in the large exhibition hall. Most imposing.
Mary Sibande
I liked the work by Lyn Malcolm, The Subversive Stitch. Rozsika Parker' s book The Subversive Stitch was originally printed in 1984, but was reprinted in 2011, with a hand stitched sampler for the front cover. Lyn Malcolm's work at the Art Textile exhibition was the original sampler! It was stunningly beautifully stitched - very simple cross stitch and back stitch - and framed with a 6" calico mount all around it, thus privileging the work in the frame. Exquisite.
I was also very taken with an antique sampler by Doris A.R. from the 18th century. It showed different mending techniques on a hemmed square of cloth - darning, patching, reverse appliqué, pulled work, hanging loops. I was also impressed with a Suffrage banner, stitched in 1911 by Miss Burton and Miss Gosling, of the Women's Freedom League, captioned Dare to be Free. It had obviously been out in the rain, as the colour from the stitching had bled into the ground velvet.
A comment about Feminist Art was: Don't illustrate the problem; challenge it. Is this what I am doing with my samplers? Not railing that women's skills are not recognised, but creating artwork that recognises it?
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