Embroidery Magazine

27 October 2023

Our dramatic cover image is by Isobel Currie, winner of the FATA 2023 Prize for Innovative Use of Textiles. Isobel works in three-dimensions, first drilling then stitching through acrylic boxes to make her works, which might depict a landscape she loves, or as in our cover, an abstract work in response to the 62 Group challenge ‘essence’. It’s just as dramatic as we bring you coverage of the Australian Wearable Art Festival – where Gaultier meets Picasso – and we meet one of the co-founders of the Profanity Embroidery Group based in Whitstable, who also loves to stitch mermaids… We feature Su Richardson’s feminist crochet which is part of the Women in Revolt! exhibition at Tate, while Boston-based prize-winning artist Venetia Dale has discovered a way of mixing being a mother to three children under eight and following a fulfilling career path. Meanwhile, in Johannesburg, Billie Zangewa places herself and her family front and centre in her silk collages, quietly affirming the place of the feminine and its worth. Elsewhere, we preview the Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery Exhibition 2023 and have a five-page guide to the Knitting & Stitching Show Harrogate, both of which are shaping up to be must-see events. There’s plenty more of interest, from Sarah Gwyer’s socially engaged beaded artworks, Jennifer Collier’s paper makes and LOOP London’s plans for Christmas, to a look inside Mandy Pattullo’s studio, an introduction to No Rules Textile Society and a Canadian artist who relies on a colony of bees to complete her artworks. Intrigued? We hope so… With a 3-page guide to inspirational festive gifts, we have the perfect recipe for a good seasonal read. We hope you enjoy it