We all stitch this

The Black Hole (2012), by Ashley Reynolds, was one of the few embroidery works displayed at Terrain 5. The work, of embroidery on a vintage tablecloth, hung in the red room of the ground floor.

Reynolds studied literature at the University of Idaho, specifically researching visual reading (i.e. scrapbooks, graphic novels), and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Education. Her blog, Embroidered Heart, catalogues her craft and lifestyle; you can see more of her work  there, as well as a post (with better photos) about The Black Hole.

 Unevenly shaped blocks of stitch work are filled with close parallel or radiating lines, or dotted with asterisk-like stars and French knots. Delicate, gridded filet lace finishes the corners of the work. The perfect situation of the circle in its white frame makes for a simple composition, but the variety of texture and visual pattern make The Black Hole dynamic as a whole, and engrossing in detail.

At Terrain

Photo by Ashley Reynolds, via Embroidered Heart

Reynolds’s work was “inspired by the history of decorative craft and the construction of female identity,” as is suggested by the Herman Melville quote on the placard:
            “We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”

This emphasis on the effects of relationships on identity (female, here), reminded me of another fiber artist. Joetta Maue, whose 2011 works of embroidered figurative images on found linens focus on the idea of tied fates, specifically in her red thread series. The Black Hole is similar to much of Maue’s work because of its large scale and medium, but its impact in its size is amplified by the concentration of black patterns of stitch work, rather than threaded outlines of people.

For an audience that doesn’t generally see fiber or embroidered artwork like Reynolds’s, a work like The Black Hole may not generally be the first idea that comes to mind. What do you think, when you think of embroidery? Has this work challenged your idea of embroidery or feminine craft?

Photo by Ashley Reynolds, via Embroidered Heart