Patch by Clare - Patches - Patchwork Object

Creator

Clare

Story

The notion of permission has kept coming up in conversation recently. Permission to let ourselves do things, permission to be creative, permission to be ourselves. How - and when - did it happen that we stopped feeling like we could do anything we pleased?

I find that within stitching I'm able to offer myself a particular sort of freedom. I'm able to do work on my terms, without compromise or apology. I'm never going to be a precise stitcher of the School of Needlework mould, astonishing as their output is; instead, the act of working with needle and thread allows me to shrug of others' rules and to create my own. I find a more strident voice within myself, more prepared to assert my beliefs and mercifully less afraid of causing offense. The stitches I make can form, and mend, and expose. They can be unpicked or reinforced, made overt or rendered invisible, but each connection, mark made, or trace left, offers an assertion of a stitcher's presence. It can be easy for onlookers to dismiss stitching as somehow innocuous; however, in considering these processes in terms of marking and assembly, I suggest that stitching offers evidence of the ways in which I construct a space in the world not only for my work, but also for myself.

Rights Holder

Clare

Rights