Kate Russo

More than any other art form, needlework is defined by the amount of time it takes to complete the work. Though often intricate and meticulous, stitching is also repetitive, laborious and even painful. In The Subversive Stitch, Parker asserts the act of stitching is subversive, giving women the time to think, plan and even plot. Time spent with a needle and thread in my hand is no different. Once I’ve worked out a pattern and the needle is passing in and out of the paper, I’m suddenly plotting and planning, scheming and subverting. The works themselves allude to this.

Inherent in all of the stitch work is a sense of anticipation: a book before it is cracked, a still room, an audience waiting for what’s to come. The Novellas, inspired by traditional book cover design, nod to the plotting and planning of their maker. In the Homestead, Rooms, and Corners series, I’m building sets, floorboard by floorboard, brick by brick, conveying a sense of solid structure, while also imparting the softness of needlework. Equally, I’m interested in the tension of known gender roles present in the work. Brick walls and parquet floors which are traditionally laid by men are, here, stitched by a woman. Agnes’ Room, Eva’s Room, and Louise’s Room, inspired by the works of Agnes Martin, Eva Hesse, and Louise Bourgeois, are the start of a new series of work, dedicated to female artists who had a subversive relationship with pattern, repetition, domesticity and obsession.