Christina Darras and Rebecca Diele present a cohabitation of works titled 'The Hand Becomes the Needle.' Darras and Diele are two distinct artists who explore tactile experiences with threads and needles to inform their art practice. Embroidery is the central aesthetic expression of their practice, where through a long dedicated process, a sharp metal tool repeatedly marks the paper or the canvas's surface to map the geography of the mind.
Rebecca Diele uses archival paper, embroidery, and stitching techniques to investigate the tension, contradiction and synthesis of opposing forces: order/disorder, randomness/control, rule/freedom, and strength/vulnerability. Her abstract and delicate work mimics the appearance of oscillating sound waves and time frequencies formed by light passing over the multi-threaded landscape.
Christina Darras embroiders on canvas in juxtaposition with Rebecca's work on small rectangular surfaces. She embroiders elements in an aphaeretic way that suggests a face with eyes and mouths, embracing anonymity and an unsettled identity. Christina elaborates on a space of non-identity as the one she inhabits more than a stable and determined identity.
Darras and Diele communicate embroidery as language by skillfully employing the needle and thread as tools in their artwork. Though the visual result is very different, their process stems from the same part of the tactile-non-verbal intuitiveness that brings the Hand as part of the work. Embroidery profoundly connects both artists with a sense of care and sensitivity towards the material. It is a labour of love and patience where the essence of time is integral to their artwork, textured by reflections and emotions that go through their minds while making.
Opening Event:
Friday, 20 October 2023
Image: courtesy of Rebecca Diele.
Textiles
Christina Darras
Textiles