Rupture
Exhibited as part of Pricked at Interlude Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2016
Rupture, lace, synthetic hair, latex, dimensions variable.
Rupture (detail) lace, synthetic hair, latex, dimensions variable.
Rupture (detail) lace, synthetic hair, latex, dimensions variable.
Rupture (detail) lace, synthetic hair, latex, dimensions variable.
Rupture (detail) lace, synthetic hair, latex, dimensions variable.
Rupture (detail) lace, synthetic hair, latex, dimensions variable.
Rupture is an installation that responds to traditional embroidery conventions. These distasteful objects react against ideals including order, precision, taste, elegance, domesticity, restraint, delicateness and beauty. Rupture embodies everything the art of needlework is not meant to be – a violent, abject eruption of lace, thread, hair and fluids. These pieces are the antithesis of the unseen, domestic craft and labour which women have participated in for centuries. Their presence explodes into the gallery, demanding space and attention whilst disrupting quiet contemplation. The work is a metaphor for the female body, which, similar to needlework, is expected to be neat, constrained and beautiful. The violence of these anti-embroideries mirrors the physical strain involved in the embroidery process, as well as the brutality often experienced while occupying a female body.
Photography by Interlude Gallery.