Articles

Mr X Stitch The Cutting (and stitching) Edge

02/09/2010
Link text here...
Sally Hewitt is a textile artist from Kent. She graduated from the Kent Institute of Art and Design in 2003 and has exhibited her work in various venues in the South and South East.

Sally explains her work: “My practice centres on bodies, ideas of beauty and ugliness and the conventions that determine which is seen as which. My medium is mainly stitching and embroidery. I like the discordance between the medium and the content.

“I am interested in how we see things, how we interpret what we see and how my way of representing bodies might affect how that which is represented is seen – is it seen as ugly, beautiful or just funny? Or none of those things?”

I find Sally’s work fascinating. She recreates elements of the body that are replete with insecurities, but by isolating them in hoops, they become tactile objects of desire. They are removed from the socio-political context that shapes our view of them, and we have a chance to consider them from an aesthetic perspective. I think they’re absorbing and they make me want to reach out and touch them.

Sally’s technique in these pieces is superb – the elegance of the pieces belies the technicality of their construction, and it’s clear that Sally is an adept crafter.

You can see more of Sally’s work on her website – I’m genuinely excited to see what she does next.