Louise Saxton Cut & Pinned

Description

Working with the unique medium of discarded and disinherited needlework, Louise Saxton's painstaking textile-assemblages not only celebrate the traditional medium, but also transcend it. Embroidery and lace made in past eras by past makers is on the brink of extinction and so too are many of the plants and animals that inspired their creation. Louise Saxton's reclamation project, so beautifully profiled in her 174 page, full-colour monograph, addresses these dual vulnerabilities. Through reinterpretation of historical paintings, from the colonial era through to twentieth century artists, Saxton also seeks to raise the status of the mostly anonymous makers whose creative labour has historically been considered merely 'women's work'. Her reclaimed 'cut & pinned' needlework assemblages, make a significant contribution to levelling the playing field between what is considered fine art and what is dismissed as craft. The book contains three-chapter introductions by the artist and an essay on how, having first trained in painting and printmaking, she came to develop a unique practice in elevating this finite material. The book also includes insightful writings by prominent people from the spheres of curatorial, academic, art making and art collection. Born in regional NSW (1958) and residing in Melbourne, Victoria since 1985 Louise Saxton received her MFA through Federation University, Ballarat, Victoria, in 2003. In 2011 she received an Arts Victoria Development Grant for her major solo exhibition Sanctuary held at Heide Museum of Modern Art in 2012. LOUISE SAXTON cut & pinned reflects, in full-colour illustrations throughout the 174 pages, select pieces from six major bodies of work constructed in reclaimed textiles since 2005.