Melanie Wallas, Kitchen Icon, 2019
Anne Katrosh, 2017
Contemporary & Experimental Embroidery
Contemporary embroidery can move beyond the traditional limits of home-worked, functional objects like embellished textiles, and it often prioritizes subject matter and forgoes conventional techniques.
A Little History
Contemporary needlework techniques continue to blossom all the time. Often favoring subject matter, imagery, colors, and shapes over technique, execution, or stitch plan, experimental embroidery pushes traditional methods to new places.
As with art of any medium, “contemporary” styles are defined by how they break with tradition, the unique role they play in society, and they continue to develop and evolve through time. Fiber artists like Ghada Amer, Kent Henricksen, Murizio Anzeri, and Erin Endicott help define what contemporary embroidery looks like in the 21st century.
Of course, each era has its own contemporary techniques, as defined by what was experimental and novel for that particular time. During her lifetime (1755-1845) English artist Mary Linwood used embroidery in news ways, copying old master paintings in thread, and being the first woman to exhibit needlework outside her home.
More contemporary embroidery artists
Lucy Arai
Tracey Emin
Melissa Zexter
Kristie MacLeod
Johnny Murder
Inge Jacobsen
Ana Teresa Barboza
Izziyana Suhaimi
Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė
Sarah K Benning
Sources
- Chaich, John and Todd Oldham. Queer Threads: crafting identity and community. Pasadena: AMMO Books, 2017. Print.
- Taylor, Lindsay. Embroidered Art. United Kingdom: Search Press, 2013. Print.
- Prain, Leanne. Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2011. Print.
- Waterhouse, Jo. Indie Craft. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2010. Print.