Embroidery

■ OF ALLTHE ART genres textile art, in particular, has the power to soothe and heal. Working with fabric brings to mind familiar connotations, as clothing to keep us warm and as decoration in our homes to make them cosy. But textile art still retains the power to highlight social inequalities and give voice to the minorities; it has political punch. As a group activity it can promote social cohesion in communities that are drifting apart. Sometimes the act of stitching can be enough to turn around lives that once seemed lost. For contemporary artist and textiles professor Alice Kettle, it was the perfect medium to achieve these outcomes when her daughter introduced her to the plight of refugees through her charitable work. Thread BearingWitness, a project that uses textiles…

■ This immersive installation inWashington, USA, by contemporary multimedia artist Anne Lindberg, explores the question, ‘What color is divine light?’ Set against lavender walls, the installation contains thousands of fine chromatic threads in complementary yellow and blue colours, creating a cloud of colour that evokes light itself. Lindberg invites visitors to reflect: if divinity could be experienced as a physical presence, what might it look like? Sound like? Feel like? What colour is divine light? Across many religions, light is used as a symbol of divine presence on Earth. Inspired by a 1971 essay by art historian Patrik Reuterswärd, What color is divine light?, Lindberg has created this installation as both her response to an unanswerable question and an echoing prompt to visitors. Scientists have determined that between complementary colours…

A week is a long time in the art world… London CraftWeek, 8–14 May, is staging singular shows, talks and workshops, attracting over 750 global makers. Highlights include: Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2022-winner, Dahye Jeong’s vessels in horsehair, inspired by ancient Korean hats (International Pavilion); Cecilia Charlton’s weaving/bargello demos, every afternoon (Garden Museum); social enterprise Jaipur Rugs’ collaboration with silversmith, the late Jocelyn Burton (Nehru Centre); and the National Army Museum’s talk on ceremonial dress, 11 May, 6.30pm. The spotlight shines on the humble quilt, too: Pemberton Qwilts show their graphic approach; the new Batsford Gallery has Quilts: A Material Culture, hosting five artists with distinctive practices; Gee’s Bend and Beyond: Quilt Course is at the RA, 13–14 May, 10.30am; or drop in toThe Chelsea Quilting Club, 12 May, atThe…

AMELIA FERN GETHING At 19, Amelia Gething left her home town in North Wales to study hand-embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace. Amelia comes from a creative family so making was instinctive, leading her to specialise in hand-embroidery. She graduated in 2022 with a BA honours degree. Gething’s work is driven by concept. It is important to her to feel connected to the subject material in order to create work that is both expressive and explorative. The theme of mental health has been an important area within her creative practice, and she has explored portraying the topic through metaphor, symbolism and pattern. She utilises traditional hand-embroidery techniques but gives them a modern twist by using subversive colour palettes and stitch combinations. Gething is most drawn…

Fiona Gill is a talented artist of many parts: a knitter, crocheter, wet-felter and embroiderer. Her mum taught her how to knit and crochet and would sometimes let her have a go on her Singer sewing machine, but her dad was also a keen embroiderer. When he was not‘taking engines out of cars’, he might be completing a tapestry, or engaging in his favourite techniques, hardanger and blackwork. With this pedigree, it is perhaps unsurprising that Fiona ended up loving embroidery – eventually. ‘I used to work at Marks and Spencer and the girls would say, “Are you coming out with us?” and I’d think, “No, actually, I’d rather spend that money on a ball of wool or a metre of fabric.” I think they thought I was mad, it…

■ It’s sometimes hard to understand with experimental work where the artist is coming from. ‘Why?’ is the question that springs to mind when confronted with some avant-garde art. That is not the case with the work ofTaiwanese-born artist Yu Mei Huang. Now London-based, the artist’s voluminous works in white are instantly likeable, their curving forms pleasing to the eye, and their textures demanding the question: ‘Can we touch it?’ The answer, if Mei is in the gallery is, ‘Yes!’ Constructed from knitting yarn and bubble wrap in circular form on a domestic knitting machine, although Mei has a plan for each work, the materials take over at a certain point, directing the form where they will. Mei often makes use of elastic yarn for its interesting shape-changing property. One…