exhibition: found on the shore

Thursday, 4 April 2019

exhibition: found on the shore

Currently at the gallery I have a mini exhibition of new work inspired by walks on favourite beaches: pebble shapes, the repetition of circular marks found on pebbles, the ebb and flow of the tide and traces of waves left behind on the sand.

All the pieces have been executed on canvas using a sewing machine and often embellished with hand-stitching. I chose canvas as a surface to "draw" on for its strength, neutral colour and texture. I wanted a neutral surface in order to concentrate on linear qualities, however on a few pieces I applied acrylic paint to the canvas and then washed it before sewing, leaving faint traces of the paint. This created a more worn surface, subtle enough to not detract from the sewn marks.

I chose the sewing machine as a form of drawing as I find it creates a satisfying quality of line; both subtle and strong and with an inherent texture. Many pieces include hand-stitching where I wanted to achieve smaller or more intricate mark-making. Using a combination of machine and hand-stitching allowed me to explore a broad range of lines, from delicate to very bold.