Claire Batt
MA Design: Embroidery
To embroider - to make a story more entertaining by adding imaginary details to it.
My practice investigates, interrogates, deconstructs, and reinterprets objects I feel connected to, or inspired by, to produce artworks that merge traces or glimpses of the original with my own layers. I am interested in the literal and conceptual parallels between seams and margins; these liminal edges where touch happens are haptic places to expand, adjust and embroider a story, and create new narratives.
Seeking out, handling, and wearing old garments is instinctive to me. They intrigue me; I am curious about the hand(s) that made them and the lives they embodied. As a vegan, the idea of comparing myself to a butcher is abhorrent, but I follow the principles of ‘seam butchery’ (a whole-carcass/ nose-to-tail philosophy), always making the most of a deconstructed garment and reusing every part.
Colouring in The Great Gatsby explores the use of colour and garments worn in the novel and embodies an act of displacement by recontextualizing materials, thereby creating a new visual language. It merges fabric with embroidery, embroidery with paper, and paper with paint. It is gentle, quiet and intended to be contemplated from both near and afar.
