“I invest in the making [of the shirt], he invests
further power in the recognition, which further inspires me.
An upward spiral. The evolution continues.”
–Alexandra Hart on embroidering her husband’s shirt
Alexandra Hart’s foreword to the
book Native Funk and Flash inspired
me more than many other thousands of pages of readings because Alexandra
inspired me to create. In her description of embroidering her husband’s shirt,
I was blown away by the pure love that seemed to flow out of every word. Her
creation represented more than a fashion statement or piece of art it was a
direct representation of their lives sewn with the love. That very day after
reading Alexandra’s moving words, I went to my local art store and bought
embroidery needles, a pack of multicolored embroidery thread and an embroidery
hoop. My own creativity had been ignited even before I was certain of a
specific topic to study for this Counter Couture class.
Once I had decided to combine work and
pleasure, the aim for this project became: to learn a new skill, understand the
meanings of various motifs of the 1960s counter culture and to gain insight of
the significance of Alexandra’s embroidered shirt for a very important era in
United States history. In order to learn the art of embroidery I checked out
various books from the University of Washington library system including many
embroidery and cross-stitch how to guides published in the late 1960s and early
1970s. I checked out many different ‘picture books’ of ethnic Indian
embroidery, which absolutely took my breath away. I was quite surprised by the
variety of techniques that one can use to embroider.
The various designs, techniques and
embellishments that I have sewn into this shirt have very much come to
represent various facets of my life, and of the individual in which I have made
this for. The shirt is an embodiment of who we are; each patch or part needs to
be decoded separately from the rest.
The process of embroidering a shirt
for a loved one has truly been, to use Alexandra’s word, an evolution. In
learning the craft of embroidery, a skill I had never even before this year
even heard of, I have found patience, craftsmanship and creativity. I would
never have thought that such of project would have also brought me even closer
to the individual I made it for. And of course, like all evolutions, this one
is never truly complete. It is a continuous process that I plan to keep up with
the evolutions of our lives.
At
the bottom of the left sleeve are two embroidered hearts. People who wear their
heart of their sleeve express their emotions freely and openly for all to see. And
this shirt is a free and open expression of both mine and his emotions for all
to see.
Artist Katie Wong
No comments:
Post a Comment