tracing aegean textiles

publication*, embroidery
2021—2022

*Self-published in small edition, 21 x 15 cm (16 pages).

How can we trace art forms that have been dismissed as benign folklore or women’s work? And can the act of tracing itself become a form of care? This research project on 18th to 19th century Aegean embroideries began with a simple question: could I find some information for an upcoming exhibition? Drawn in by the textiles’ special motifs, colors, and compositions—as well as the fragmentary records available about them—I only got more and more curious:

Why did the motifs vary so much from island to island? What do they signify? What roles did these embroideries play in the lives of Greek women? How did they end up in British and American museum collections? And why do so many survive only as fragments?

To get closer to the motifs, I picked up a black marker and began tracing their outlines. In this slow act of reanimation and care I created a publication and printed the designs on cloth. At the State of Fashion Biennale 2022, I invited visitors to join me in embroidering the fabric, continuing the work together, stitch by stitch.

Photos of the publication. Combined with photos from the live embroidery session.

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I am a textile artist, researcher, and writer based in Amsterdam. Through my work runs a tangible thread spun from questions about materials, patterns, hierarchies, histories and traditions.

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