Stitch

Daniel Raphael Gallery is proud to present Stitch, an insightful group exhibition into facets of Embroidery Art. Richard McVetis, Robert Dean, Julie French, Alison Holt and Lucie Feighan are part of a new generation of artists that are enabling embroidery to transcend its domesticity into the fine arts.

The exploration of fine needlework and an ability to master the medium of embroidery, be it running, back, blanket or cross stitch is the core thread of this exhibition. It is this inclusion of craftsmanship and the legacy of embroidery examined in Rozsika Parker’s iconic book, The Subversive Stitch, that led to the title of the show, Stitch.

Having received a Masters in Constructed Textiles from The Royal College of Art (2006-08), British artist Richard McVetis has seen success both artistically and commercially, recently exhibiting in the celebrated Cheongju International Craft Biennale in South Korea. One of his works (part of a series) to be displayed in Stitch is 50:29, a unique hand embroidered cube that explores the passage of time. The title refers to the number of hours and minutes spent on the piece. McVetis’ aim is to take the very notion of time which is invisible and make it tactile, visible, an object in the room with the viewer.

Julie French uses stitch as a tool to provoke the viewer’s imagination by purposely leaving thread to hang loose in and around the image. Her technique results in pieces that are erratic and unpredictable in their appearance. The artist's ability to capture movement with one seemingly continuous line is not only distinctive but beautifully offsets the more concise styles that form part of the show such as Alison Holt’s life-like embroidered landscapes.

Lucie Feighan trained in textile design and in 2017 earned a Masters in Fine Art with Distinction. Her Entangled embroidery series which is composed of two triptychs was informed by extensive research on the tradition of ‘Nushu’. An ancient coded writing system from 10th-century Jiangyong County, China, it was utilized by women to communicate with each other in secret. Feighan creates her own touch memorials, to record, remember, and embody significant individuals in her life.

Recent graduate from Nottingham Robert Dean exclusively releases a new series of work which studies his own family relationships. He employs many facial features and characteristics of himself and his siblings to determine the future portrait(s) of his younger brother, Alex. Alex 1,2,3,4,5 is therefore a series which allows for the stitch work to portray a symbolic bringing together of family.

Gallery owner Daniel Levy adds that this exhibition “is original for many reasons and we hope the works shine through, especially bearing in mind the scarcity of embroidery-based exhibitions in London. There is a certain enamour about using traditional techniques in Art and reinterpreting them in a contemporary setting. This is what Stitch fundamentally explores.”