| Embroidery is more than a skill; it is a language. One has only to handle an embroidery to realize that it is more than simply a pattern of coloured threads, diligently sown on to a piece of fabric. Every piece of embroidery, however mundane, is a personal expression of thoughts and feelings, using a system of signs and symbols, with rules determining its usage. Read this last sentence again carefully and you will recognize in it the generally accepted definition of language. Look closely again at a piece of embroidery add slowly you will begin to recognize beyond the surface of the superficial design, its underlying message, conveyed through stylized signs and symbols. You will begin to detect nuances and inflexions as sharply distinct as any regional or local dialect, and if you are extraordinarily gifted you may be able even to identify not only the provenance of a piece to work but the particular craftsperson responsible for its creation.[EXTRACT] |
Published in DAWN 19 Feb. 1998, and reprinted in THE BARK OF A PEN (2001). |
|
