about my work
In my work I’m aiming to show that by intervention with yarn into the structure of a photograph, we charge the work with a feminist discourse.
I have been applying textile practices to the photographic process, by introducing the thread into the subject matter at a conceptual and compositional stage, as well as the final physical structure.
In order to systematise and organise the arts and research areas of my interest I created the following diagram, which shows the fields of my interest including the common areas.
PHOTOGRAPHY
In my research on photo-embroidery, physicality and materiality of photography are the core of my interest, because when we consider a photograph in its relationship to fabric and thread, it is difficult to ignore the physical aspect of this medium.
There is no doubt that the content of the image in a photograph is the main layer of its perception, but in my work, I would like to emphasise the importance of perceiving the materiality of the medium.
With my work I imply that the introduction of another material into a photograph can enhance the viewer’s experience of perceiving a photograph.
YARN
I treat the term ‘yarn’ more extensively and understand it here as textile, fabric, yarn, working with textiles, weaving, yarning and spinning.
Thread or yarn symbolise a path to reach one’s goal, ways to solve a problem, they also serve as a metaphor for wisdom, life and destiny. We use thread to weave stories; it connects, stitches and creates a new whole; and finally, it is used for mending and repairing. It is a symbol of birth, growth and progress, as well as of creating the world and determining humans’ fate. It is a metaphor for security, care and secrecy.
Another aspect, strictly related to the concept of working with textiles and yarn, is the division between craft and art. The relationship between textile and art is long and complex. The path for textile work to be recognized and perceived as art, photography likewise, was not the easiest one. Textile work had long been tainted with the stigma of craft and, moreover, the type of craft associated with women.
I also see working with thread as a physical engagement with the material, which again is very important to me.
So, both, the craft and my physical engagement with the material lead me to the concept and …. Of body. In this instance a women’s body.
FEMINISM
Feminism is a very extensive idea.
For the purposes of my work, in addition to feminist art, it was crucial for me to learn more about feminist theories on the body, because it is the body which constitutes one of the most important points where all the areas I study meet and merge.
In feminist theory, one of the most important literary works that undermined this approach was The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir, published in 1949, in which the author emphasises the role of the body as a form of material existence that defines and determines our cognitive experience.
Therefore, we owe the shift towards corporeality, embodied cognition and bodily experience to the feminist scholars.
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