world of threads 1

Isichol by Lerato Motau  South Africa detail

SOUTH AFRICA

wool hand embroidery

Techtonic 30 by Lindy Fyfe, Toronto Canada

TORONTO CANADA

recycled knit clothing, sewn and stretched over canvas

Chronicling of Self by Maureen Ballagh, Canada

ORLEANS CANADA

nettle yarn,with grass, clover and beesax, knit and dipped in wax

Indigo by Catherine Heard Toronto Canada

TORONTO CANADA

Seer by Catherine Heard  antique fabric, embroider

Redwork by Catherine Heard, Toronto CanadaAdd caption

Fragment by Naha Puri Dhir, Gujarat India

 INDIA

tussah silk, hand woven, stitch resist indigo dye

Intersect by Neha puri Dhir Gujarat India, stitch resist indigo dye, tussah silk

 INDIA

ripple by Neha Puri Dhir, Gujarat India, stitch resist, indigo dye, tussah silk

INDIA 

Homage to Mary Safianoff by Honey Mitchell, Toronto Ontario

TORONTO ONTARIO CANADA

dupioni silk, cotton floss, photo, hand stitch

WORLD OF THREADS in OAKVILLE ONTARIO CANADA

This is the first of three blog posts about the world of threads exhibitions.  I was only able to stay a brief time and there was so much to see.   315 artworks by 134 artists from around the world.  For more information and more art by these artists, click on their name to go to website.  I hope that you will look at all three of the posts about the festival.  x

phulkari

 This post is about the phulkari embroideries from the Punjab area of India.

I have long been inspired by the bagh (garden) embroideries where the stitches completely cover the ground fabric. (see here for another example)  They take several years to complete and are used in wedding ceremonies.

 All photos in this post are of the bagh I saw at the art institute of Chicago in 2015.

To get such accuracy in the geometric pattern, the stitches are worked from the reverse of the fabric using counted thread.  This is mind-boggling.

An interesting link with many more examples of phulkari traditional work is here.

Anne Morrell says:

Darning stitch in phulkari is usually started with a small knot or back stitch and finished with a little back stitch.  The embroidery is worked with the reverse side of the cloth facing the worker.  The stitches change direction, and this, combined with the use of an untwisted, soft floss silk thread, reflects the light, giving the surface a shiny appearance.  The traditional colours of thread include white, gold, orange, green and crimson.

planned freedom

About twenty years ago, I saw large embroideries from India in the Textile Museum of Canada.

 They were so cheerful, colourful, beautiful, and powerful that they hit me in the heart.

 I remember that there was a folk-art quality to them.  I remember miles of chain stitch.

Those cloths were taller than I was, wide enough to cover a bed.
They were completely covered with thread.

 Huge immense spaces of stitched marks.

I get similar heart felt feelings when I visit  English gardens.

My eye and heart eagerly follow the masses of blooms and foliage.
Masses of small unique marks.

There is an aesthetic of labour in both gardens and large embroideries,
There is time.

Gardens and large hand made textiles reach something deep inside us and that feeling is more natural than we can understand.