Welcome to NeedleXChange, conversations on the art of thread. It’s our podcast in which Jamie “Mr X Stitch” Chalmers talks with needlework and textile artists about their practice and process.
Marcia Bennett-Male is a Textile Artist and Stonemason whose work in textiles explores her experiences as a black female and the social and emotional currents that have influenced that position.
We were lucky enough to have Marcia join us for an interview on our Podcast NeedleXChange. In the interview we talk about her forthcoming show in Brixton, how Marcia’s textile work came to be and how she uses symbolism in her work. This post highlights some key takeaways from our interview.
“My textile pieces are art therapy, cathartic, autobiographical, they put a visual to my thoughts and experiences. The pieces look at depression, suicide, self harm, self hatred and how I navigate through the world as a black female. The work also depicts black women from history, previously poorly documented, alongside fantastical goddesses of myth and legend.“
How or where did you learn how to stitch or sew?
My mother was a dressmaker, when she first arrived in England in the 50’s she was in the tailoring trade in the East End of London. She moved over into dressmaking within the trade and as a home sewer. I grew up with women coming in and out of the house for fittings and/or bringing bags of fabric.
I went with her every weekend to buy fabric or haberdashery. She had just started evening classes at The London School of Fashion before she had me. My secondary school was an all girls one, back then you had cooking and sewing lessons.
To what extent does your cultural background influence your work?
My cultural background is 50% of what my work is about. The other 50% is about being a black female, with that cultural background, residing and navigating through another.
Working with two very different mediums in stonemasonry and textiles, how do you define your practice?
I don’t really identify as a textile artist, but I do tell people, every now and again when I do a textile post on my stone page. I just do it to remind people to, yes, I started off with textiles before I started with stone. I don’t mean to exclude textiles in a hostile way, but stonemasonry is how I earn my living.
What other artists inspire you?
Francis Bacon, for the raw, seemingly almost kinetic look of his brushstrokes. C18th still life paintings, for the dark, calm but sinister aspect. Along with the multitude of symbolism in them. Kara Walker, just because her work is scary, take-no-prisoners!
She’ll cut you with her work, and you won’t even know it until you’ve lost a pint of blood. Fante Asafo flag makers of Ghana, for their complete abandonment with fabric, colour and shapes. Deborah E. Roberts, because she makes me sad, her portraits demand that you stop and look them in the eye. Frida Kahlo for inspiring me to ‘put-it-out-there’.
Do you have any secrets in your work you will tell us? And are there any creative connections between your work in textile and in stone?
If you’re asking in regards to the execution of the work, no secrets. If you’re referring to hidden meaning, again no. I use my textiles to get it all out there.
Creative connections. No as yet. I’ve contemplated it, but if the merging of the two mediums is not a natural one, I’m not going to force it. They are very much separate. I tend to use the textiles to vent, to calm, to right a wrong, and to inform, sometimes to rest my eyes and brain from the carving.
Carving is work, it’s about selling, earning a living. I don’t care if I sell the textiles, obviously it’s great if someone loves a piece enough to part with hard earned money. What’s important is that the image is out there in the world, even if it’s only via social media and jostling for viewing with millions of other images. Someone might see it and connect.
It’s interesting to observe Marcia’s relationship with the formality of ecclesiastical embroidery and how her artwork found it’s voice when she relaxed away from those standards. To me this echoes the overarching storylines of black culture within colonial history and the restrictions that have reframed that context to suit the dominant narrative.
Undoubtedly Marcia’s work would have been fantastic in whichever form she chose, as reflected in her stonework, however her textile work is a reflection on history and struggle and her personal fight within that sphere and it’s interesting that the very character of her art is born from a different place.
In the same way that soft media are used to explore hard topics, the immediate simplicity of Marcia’s work takes the edge off the content, allowing the viewer time to actually connect with the work; a more realistic presentation of the concepts might frighten people off but Marcia’s characters act as an analgesic while simultaneously pointing out the historical caricatures that have been used in the past.
Marcia Bennett-Male is a masterful storyteller and the contrast between the rawness of her textile pieces and the weight refinement of her stonework is truly remarkable, as it highlights the confidence with which she pulls apart the status quo and pokes holes in the predominant version of events.
You can find more of Marcia Bennett-Male’s work at her website, and you can explore her stonework and her textile pieces on Instagram.
Once again, check out our NeedleXChange interview here!
