Main Gallery
Installation view 2006
Maker: Amanda A'Hara
Materials: embroidery on felt, plastic hoop
Courtesy of the artist
Pig 2008
Maker: Angela Meyer
Materials: embroidery on cotton duck
Courtesy of the artist
Installation view 2006
Maker: Shona Rapira Davies
Materials: pencil and stitching on printed cotton fabric
Courtesy of the artist
Chimp Drawing # 4 and Nazi's 2003
Maker: Ronnie van Hout
Materials: embroidery on cotton duck
Courtesy of the artist
Trace 2008
Maker: Rachelle Pedersen
Materials: viscose and cotton thread on cotton in wooden embroidery frame
Courtesy of the artist
Installation view (detail) 2008
Maker: JB Bones
Materials: embroidery on cotton
Courtesy of the artist
My sister and I 2007
Maker: Roxanna Zamani
Materials: hand machine embroidery on 100% cotton, 100% polyester thread
Courtesy of the artist
Canine Cameos 2008
Maker: Seb Clarke
Materials: embroidered badges
Courtesy of the artist
Installation view
Installation view
Installation view
The Society Islands: Huahine, The Society Islands: Tahiti 2008
Maker: Jo Torr
Materials: embroidered barkcloth (tapa) with mother of pearl
Courtesy of the artist
Stitch Cupboard 2008
Maker: Annie Mackenzie
Materials: MDF and red wool
Courtesy of the artist
Installation view 1996
Maker: Katherine Morrison
Materials: wool blanket pieces, wool batting. Cotton sheet and threads. Machine and hand pieced then hand darned, quilted and embroidered
Courtesy of the artist
Take Me Home and All I Am 2007
Maker: Tori Ferguson
Materials: cotton embroidery on cotton handkerchief
Courtesy of the artist
Where Did This Come From? 2004
Maker: Diana Parkes
Materials: embroidery on vintage 1930s linen laundry bag with design transfer
Courtesy of the artist
Baggage 2005
Maker: Rosie White
Materials: cotton sateen, bridal veil, boning, screen print, hand embroidery, slide fasteners
Courtesy of the artist
What a honey 2004
Maker: Angela Meyer
Materials: silver and red thread on black cloth
Courtesy of the artist
Bambi Birdie Boner 2004
Maker: Megan Hansen-Knarhoi
Materials: cotton on tapestry cloth
Courtesy of the artist
Installation view 1996
Maker: Katherine Morrison
Materials: wool blanket pieces, wool batting, cotton sheet and threads, machine and hand pieced then hand darned, quilted and embroidered
Courtesy of the artist
Journey 2006
Maker: Wendy Randall
Materials: wool on hessian
Courtesy of the artist
No Rules: Rediscovering Embroidery
15 November 2008 - 20 December 2008
Makers:
Amanda A'Hara, JB Bones, Seb Clarke, Tori Ferguson, Megan Hansen-Knarhoi, Annie Mackenzie, Angela Meyer, Athina Moisa, Katherine Morrison, Diana Parkes, Rachelle Pedersen, Wendy Randall, Shona Rapira Davies, Rose Marie Salmon, Jo Torr, Rosie White, Roxanna Zamani, Ronnie van Hout
Uncovering a range of embroiderers' work that challenges many preconceptions about stitch No Rules: Rediscovering Embroidery gathers a selection of 18 makers who have broken free of convention, or redirected it in unexpected ways. These makers have uncovered eloquent personal directions, their common link the inevitability of stitch as their medium of choice. Such exploration is re-discovering the world of stitch, reclaiming it, and opening it to new possibilities.
No Rules is not intended to capture one particular movement or groundswell of activity in stitch. The exhibition, curated by Rosemary McLeod, is an investigation the expansive range of makers from a variety of ages and backgrounds who have chosen thread, before other mediums, for its pure expressive potential.
McLeod notes in her essay for the exhibition, "there have been conscious attempts in the past to revive embroidery, but what is happening now is not such a structured approach. It is the rediscovery of thread's potential on the stitcher's own terms, making embroidery not stilted, retro or self-conscious, but creatively inevitable. Embroidery, when it is framed here, is not constrained, but contained. The maker's hand may be evident, not hidden in the neutrality of perfect execution - or maybe there is no hand producing the work, but a machine. Mistakes and imperfections are celebrated. Embroidery becomes drawing, or challenges paint."
Featuring in No Rules: Rediscovering Embroidery are makers from around New Zealand including Amanda A'Hara, JB Bones, Seb Clarke, Tori Ferguson, Megan Hansen-Knarhoi, Annie Mackenzie, Angela Meyer, Athina Moisa, Katherine Morrison, Diana Parkes, Rachelle Pedersen, Wendy Randall, Shona Rapira Davies, Rose Marie Salmon, Jo Torr, Ronnie van Hout, Rosie White and Roxanna Zamani.
No Rules: Rediscovering Embroidery is curated for Objectspace by well known writer, media personality and commentator Rosemary McLeod. An expert in the field of textiles, with a life-long passion for the subject, McLeod is the author of the 2006 Montana award winning Thrift to Fantasy: Home Textile Crafts of the 1930s - 1950s and has contributed an in-depth essay for the Objectspace publication accompanying No Rules.
The NoRules: Rediscovering Embroidery print publication is available for sale at Objectspace and also as a free download.
No Rules was featured in Artnews Summer 2008 issue - download article here.