Miss Rose

I originally decided to look at stich work, as it is a very typically feminine medium, I wondered if this would lead me to having a more female-based audience and whether it would give me a different way in which to explore my own femininity and feminine ideals. Following a similar style to some of the artists I have researched, such as Andrea Farina, I find the anonymity of some stitch work can actually be very expressive, especially when portraying the female form.

I have explored various tones within my subject matter, for example I have experimented with completely anonymous women from behind, purely looking at the almost abstract forms, I have worked on an image of a genuine couple (myself and my female partner) including much more detail such as facial features and I have also tried working on a slightly more abstract image that is very erotic and explicit. I have used a variety of colours and variations on my initial style to express different things, for example I used green threads for the more anonymous image as it felt a lot more natural, which is something I really liked compared to the harsh black thread used for the image of me and Ellarna. I have used various materials for backgrounds and I included multiple coloured threads and differently weighted threads for the most explicit image to try and create texture and shadowing.

I wanted to really explore this medium in terms of what is/isn’t acceptable – does this typically feminine medium lend its self to more erotically charged work, is more explicit work still acceptable due to the abstract nature? I think the real answers to these questions will only be found by asking various people their opinions on my work and gaging their reactions.

I have really enjoyed taking quite a traditional medium and putting a contemporary twist on it, I was very inspired by Erin. M Riley’s work which prompted me to use this more modern style and also to experiment with more graphic imagery. I really like these small pieces that I have produced and think they would look really good mounted as a sort of triptych, however I am unsure how would be best to present them. I liked the visual shape of these pieces whilst they were in the embroidery hoop and one suggestion from Judy (textiles teacher) was to buy a selection of embroidery hoops to mount these, which could then be hung from small hooks on the wall. I am not sure whether or not this would look very professional so I need to look into other ways that I could present these pieces, for example mounting float mounting the hoops in a box frame. Another thing to consider is where this exhibition will take place and the age of the audience, perhaps this type of work; especially the more explicit piece would not be suitable for people under 18 years old. This actually feeds into my research on censorship and will be a quite interesting point when it comes to the time of the exhibition.