Embroidery

This is a collection of embroidered works made over the past few years. They were not created as part of a single exhibition, but rather picked from different projects and/or exhibitions.

What interests me about embroidery is not working with traditional stitches, but rather the idea of thread and needle as tools for drawing. I work freehand, aiming to create the illusion of having drawn on paper with the same immediacy.

“Die Leegte”

In August 2022 my father was diagnosed with advanded esophagus cancer which significantly impacted his speech. “Die Leegte”, captures all the last messages he sent me during his final eight months marked by chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

I wanted to create a contemplative space, where I could be alone with his words. Captured in these words I hear his tone of voice, sense of humour, his readiness to fight, his exhaustion, his fear of dying and ultimately his preparation. 

The tent serves as an impermanent structure providing temporary safety. The completion of the embroidered tent brought an unexpected connection-the last gift from her father to her son, given two weeks before his death, was a little tent. 

* A Leegte is the Afrikaans term for 'emptiness,' yet within the context of the Karoo, the semi-desert region where my father was from, it also signifies a plot of land where the presence of periodic water will encourage the growth of denser and more abundant vegetation.