I found some crochet patches in the linen cupboard recently. They were most likely prepared for the assemblage of a cosy (and cute in a 'kitsch' way) couch blanket. I commondeered the green, pink and cream coloured patches and subsequently they became studio experiment subjects. I had stitched paper imagery to fabric before, but I had not previously used yarn based items or crochet full stop. Crochet does fall into that Granny pastime category and now with the resurgence of crafternoons and funky mums fondling yarn in cafes blah blah...the overall image of the distinctive weave is what interests me more. Also, it is intrinsically associated with women's work...actually not even work, more like hobby-work that was meant to have a functional outcome (i.e. cardigan, couch blanky etc). An occupation to chip away at. Maybe that is why the appearance of crochet forms in street art has such a unique signature in the urban/suburban environments - because crochet/knitting can often be inseparable from the notion of homeliness and conventional craft.
Anyway, I experimented in the studio with some paper imagery and stitched focal point images to a couple of the patches.
The eye was painted in gouache on watercolour paper, cut out and stitched onto the patch with white thread. The face image was extracted from the corny 'Moon Child' story came across inside a big book of short stories (circa 1982).
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