This self-published monograph reflects the Australian artist Louise Saxton's past two decades of collecting & re-imagining discarded needlework. Her reclaimed cut & pinned needlework assemblages, profiled in full colour in this monograph, make a significant contribution to the long line of artists seeking to level the playing field between what is considered fine art and what is dismissed as craft.
Embroidery and lace made in past eras by past makers is on the brink of extinction and so too are many of the plants and animals that inspired their creation. Saxtons reclamation project, so beautifully profiled in her publication, addresses these dual vulnerabilities. Through the reinterpretation in found needlework of historical paintings, from the colonial era through to twentieth century artists, Saxton also seeks to raise the status of the largely anonymous makers whose creative labour has historically been considered merely womens work.
