healing sutras – Contemporary Embroidery & Textile Art Inspiration

Erin Endicott is a textile artist from New Jersey. Her pieces of work, Healing Sutras, are meditations on physical and psychological wounds, created using antique fabrics, walnut ink and embroidery. It's powerful stuff, simple yet extremely effective. On her website, Erin explains her process: Antique fabrics, clothing and linens My dowry passed down through generations My history woven into this cloth A fine cotton tablecloth Lovingly mended by my great-grandmother Becomes a little girl’s dress Delicate cloth Beautifully worn and threadbare Stained by an artist’s hand Walnut ink flowing into complex organic shapes Subtleties of value, depth Bringing the wound to life Lost in the meditation of stitching Repetition, contemplation From within the fabric Memories reveal themselves Stitches, like words The story grows Lines graceful, unfurling Drawing with thread The Healing begins Erin's work creates beauty from tragedy - the embroidered wounds' realism are enhanced with the walnut ink, layering the pieces with history and evoking a narrative laced with poignancy. Erin captured Best in Show at Fiberart International 2010 for her piece, Healing Sutra #3. The awards were announced April 16, 2010 at the opening of the triennial exhibition presented by the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh. You can see her work in a group show called "Voices in the Bardo" at Shadow's Space Gallery in Philadelphia, PA until 25th June. For more information about her work, visit her website.