Sandra Dufour is an illustrative textile artist whose embroidery can been seen embroidering stories in press and publishing.
Sandra graduated from the Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg where she specialised in visual didactics and trained in textiles at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.
What I absolutely love to see and why Sandra’s work is such a joy, is when artists use textiles to illustrate a story. There is such beauty in the softness of the threads and fabrics when adorning the pages of a storybook.
How did your technique evolve?
I like to adapt my technique to each new project. Most of my embroideries are made for books and to illustrate stories. I often incorporate other medias such as dye, screen-printing, and patchwork.
Where do you think your creativity is taking you?
My creativity is taking me to increase my intuition, allowing me to learn to let go. This is what I’m looking for. Things happening by accident are part of my process.
The idea of things happening by accident in the creative process I think really expands the possibilities of a piece of work.
By seeing the accidents as a new direction, means that you can be endlessly creative and new in what you create. This is certainly evident in Sandra’s playful embroideries.
What other artists inspire you?
I look at many artist works in several areas such as: painting, illustration, textile.
David Hockney, Francçoise Pétrovitch, Beatrice Alemagna, Maurice Sendak, the drawings of Andy Warhol, Camille Jourdy, Kitty Crowther, Pauk Cox, Sonia Delaunay, Anu Tuonimen, Louise Bourgeois, Catherine De Launoit, Thisou, etc.
What is your favourite tool to use in your practice?
Just needle, thread and white cotton. It’s really soothing.
The art of hand embroidery is scientifically proven to have benefits on mental, and physical health. The repetitive process of sewing creates a meditative state, so you can imagine, when working on such joyful subject matter as Sandra does, that this can be so soothing for her.
Can you share one creative tip with our readers?
Perhaps my process. I work a lot before I begin a new embroidery. I think a lot to it : I look at pictures, books, I draw. Then I draw my sketch on my fabric with a pen and I draw it again with thread and accept the imperfections.
What a careful process which reminds us not to forget to appreciate and take time over our process. Textile art, particularly embroidery is a slow craft and takes time, patience and care.
Thank you so much to Sandra for interviewing with us.
If you could like to see more of her work, don’t forget to follow her on Instagram and check out her website.
