Textiles artist Sammy Dudley’s practice consists mainly of hand embroidered pieces depicting bodies and faces, and more recently contemporary representations of classical paintings throughout art history taking selfies. She grew up on the Isle of Wight and now lives in London.
How did you get into embroidery?
While studying for my Fine Art degree, I started stitching into paintings, which lead on to experiments with cross-stitch. After a while I returned to embroidery as a way to create art. My first piece was in 2017 and was inspired by Antonio Canova’s The Three Graces; from that moment I haven’t stopped embroidering! I felt very content using embroidery, especially because of its heritage in women’s hands. I’ve always wanted to have an aspect of feminism in my work and by embroidering I feel that my process itself taps into a shared women’s cultural production. I think it’s so interesting to take something as instant as a selfie (a snap shot digital image) and work it in one of the longest processes I can think of. I think it highlights the importance of the images; as symbols of power, body positivity and female empowerment.
What are your favourite stitches?
I’ve never had any formal embroidery training, so over time I’ve simply experimented and then stuck with the habits that worked and looked best. For outlining I usually use split stitch as it creates a really smooth finish, with an even width. I then usually fill my works using brick stitch because of its neat, intricate texture; sometimes throwing in a satin stitch. A personal favourite for giving texture is the French Knot – I like F F Embroidery’s work for a perfect example of the power of the FK!
What other types of textiles would you like to explore?
I’m fascinated with tapestry, and I love the way it has been used throughout history to document important moments. I’ve also always wanted to present my work in a bigger scale with more content and larger images. As my art practice develops I’d love to be able to make tapestries of my work. At the minute I can’t seem to stop crocheting, but I’m not wholly sure how it’ll become a part of my art practice. I’ve thought of the possibility of making fabrics using methods like crocheting and weaving, which I would then embroider onto. I’ll try and explore that more in the future.
I create mostly fine art pieces with my embroidery, to either frame classically or display on the hoop itself. I’ve been working on a project that explores the male gaze within art history by re-appropriating famous paintings and sculptures by inserting smartphones into the hands of the women. Even through this small subversion, I feel much more comfortable with these famous pieces and feel that the women depicted gain some of their agency back through their self representation. Once I started taking classical paintings and transforming them into pink selfie-taking nudes, I couldn’t stop. I was initially inspired to create work that focuses on selfies because of the general negativity that selfie culture gets. Even in counter-culture, the overall opinion of selfies are that they’re vapid and of little worth. Instead, what I found online was people using selfies in a positive, liberating way: using it as a way to take control of their own subjectivity and representation. As an interesting type of contemporary self portrait. I’ve also created some neat patches, and more recently have used embroidery materials to make earrings.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
My Instagram feed has become the place where I consume most of the visual art that influences me. I have found so many interesting embroidery artists and am always finding more. There’s definitely a distinct and new visual language being built by these artists that is distinctly feminist and body positive. I want my art to be taken seriously as part of this visual culture, and I hope the activism and critiques of contemporary culture that I find in other embroidery artists can be reflected in my own work. Otherwise, I visit the exhibitions around London that catch my eye. I was Inspired when I went to the Edward Burne-Jones exhibition at Tate Britain recently. These Pre-Raphaelite paintings and tapestries of nude women included some beautiful poses and scenes – I made a few digital drawings and one was recently reposted by the Tate collective Instagram, which was really nice. When I look at classical art it’s always the poses and expressions that inspire me – there’s a universality to them that translates into the contemporary setting of my embroidery work perfectly.
Who would you like to collaborate with and why?
I’ve collaborated a number of times with Becky Hancock (a fellow embroidery artist) for our embroidery workshops we run as Pink & Hancock. We’ve done a few workshops in collaboration with museums – one at the Tate and another at the British Museum as part of their Exchange and Lates programmes. Our most recent workshop was with UAL Camberwell as part of their freshers fair – it was a lot of fun to be back involved with a university!I would love to collaborate and create art with the artists that inspire me on a daily basis. I love the work of illustrators like Polly Nor, Laura Callahan, and Emma Allegretti and I think our styles and imagery would work well together. I’d love to see how the medium of embroidery would change their work.
Do you have any creative goals for 2019?
I’ve been invited to exhibit in an upcoming group show for Spoke Art in collaboration with Juxtapoz at their gallery in Jersey City. The exhibition will take place in March and is my biggest yet, and the first time I’ll be exhibiting abroad! I’m currently working on the piece that I’ll show, and am extremely excited to be involved. One of my goals for next year is to continue being involved with exhibitions that relate to the themes of my work, so this is a fantastic opportunity. I find that working with an exhibition in mind is extremely helpful and productive as it pushes me to develop my voice and to relate my work to other contemporaries working in different mediums. I’d also like to continue making art work to sell, and to grow my online store and social media presence. Over 2018 I’ve grown my art practice massively and I really hope that this carries on! As with embroidery it’s a lot of hard work and sometimes long hours, so it’s a good thing that I love doing what I do and am still inspired to explore my creative urges.
What do you love about embroidery?
For a number of reasons I think embroidery is unlike any other medium. I love the textures it creates and the tactile nature of the finished pieces. In terms of the selfie project that I’ve been working on for a while now, I think there’s a very interesting relationship between the instant quality of a photograph and the time-consuming embroidery process. Perhaps more than anything, I love being an active part within the shared women’s history of embroidery.Follow Sammy on Instagram here