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The art of decorating a surface (fabric, paper, canvas, etc.) using needle and a threadlike material. Embroiderers usually use sewing techniques and a set of particular stitches to create their designs.

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"Woven Portraits" is a lesson that explores the relationship between embroidery and symbolism. We will look at street and textile artist Victoria Villasana who blends history and tradition with modern textiles and patterns by embroidering on top of images.
Students will pick the image of a person who inspires them and will learn to add ornamentation and symbolism to that image through embroidery.

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Using a needle and yarn to embroider an image of someone who inspires you, create symbolism or meaning.

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Communication or interactivity of different cultural backgrounds or art forms

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"We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing automobile with its bonnet adorned with great tubes like serpents with explosive breath...a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace."

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Learning hand embroidery is fun and relaxing, plus it's an easy way to create beautiful art with fabric and thread. Getting started in embroidery means understanding some basic embroidery stitches. Most patterns only require a few basic stitches, learn these 15 embroidery stitches, and you should be able to tackle most embroidery projects.

Woven wheel stitch looks like a more advanced embroidery stitch, but it's actually quite simple. Start with a star of straight stitches and then weave the working thread to form a flower. Soon you have a stitch that will fill your hoop with amazing florals.

Definitely the most advanced stitch on this list, bullion knots are not for the faint of heart. But they are a stitch you should learn. Think of them as a really long french knot that can make gorgeous roses. Practice making them small and then start making them bigger. You'll be glad to know this one.

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15 Basic Hand Embroidery Stitches You Should Know

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Learning hand embroidery is fun and easy with these 15 essential stitch tutorials. Beginners and experienced stitchers will use them often.

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Artist Statement

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In 2005 I started working in "fiber", using hand-sewing and hand-embroidery to make a body of work that explored the presence, and disappearance, of objects common to day-to-day life and the relationships we make to them. The materials, tools and time-intensive labor associated with the material conjure opposing feelings of precious and pathetic that these ubiquitous, and often disposable or overlooked, objects possess. As these mementos and artifacts of the everyday obsolesce, my work questions how the loss of their presence is felt, and why.

In making this work for the last nine years, I have found some answers to these questions and have resolved many of the ideas I was curious about in this work. Objects like the newspaper are very tactile and also dependable and loyal in their daily renewal. Because of the comfort found in ritual and routine we build around the newspaper, the relationship we make to it is not dissimilar to a relationship we would make with another person. By assigning human attributes to the inanimate object, it opens us up to having emotional responses to it. We have a similarly strong emotional response to the material of cloth and to the recognition of time, labor, and care found in a hand-sewn object. Cloth is one of the only textures our body touches and feels so intimately twenty-four hours a day. Its specific tactility and ability to provoke an emotional response is extraordinary, and I have found it an extremely effective and rewarding material to use in my art practice. Because hand-sewing and embroidery are techniques that themselves have somewhat obsolesced, when people recognize the preciousness in sculptural objects made in this manner, they seem to also have a secondary reaction laced with a hint of pathetic-ness- ie, they lament the time lost towards doing such a monotonous and time-consuming activity to make a non-functional thing. The tension between this reaction, combined with the overlapping recognition of both the beauty and worthwhile-ness of the resulting object, lead to a powerful energy that the hand-sewn object exudes.

I began embroidering and sewing with no prior experience outside of doing cross-stitch projects and watching my mom hand-sew Halloween costumes when I was a child. In learning a skill or craft like this, the common rules insist that the student seek perfection- every stitch in line, every knot tied, the back of the embroidery as tidy as the front. I think the actual perfection in the material is found in exactly the opposite of these standards- when the thread tangles or becomes matted and overworked, or where the basting stitch is left to stand on its own; when the fabric wrinkles and twists rather than ironed flat and taut-those moments end up being the most beautiful parts in a piece. The mistakes and the looseness show the human hand and reflect the human spirit, and that's the perfection.

After honing my skills in the medium through aiming for tedious mimesis and trompe l'oeil representations of carefully collected source material, my stitches and sculpture started to feel too stiff and practiced. I wanted to return the playfulness, joy and also struggle back into my studio-- these were the factors that had led me to choose sewing over painting at the outset of this body of work. At the same time, I was finding that the 'objects of my day to day life' that I touched and interacted with were no longer things like the newspaper, but were the materials and tools of my craft- cotton, needles, stuffing, thread.

I began a new body of work exploring the forms and textures and movements I could pull out of these materials themselves, with no source material except the history my hands have made and my knowledge and understanding of the materials that have become innate and instinctual.

The resulting series of sculpture is organic and figural; I hope that the pieces achieve a quirky and funny animation of material and form, while also standing as serious and formal investigations into sculpture, especially the aspect of lightness vs weight. To make each piece, I work from the inside out, starting with perhaps a handful of stuffing and a square of felt, building shapes and gestures that are determined by the material and my own instinct to manipulate it. After a coherent series of structures develops, I then start to carefully upholster, embroider, wrap, weave, felt or embellish over each form individually until it has developed its own identity and posture and thereby, personality. The resulting collection of sculptures has become a family of forms that I hope appeal to the same emotions, tensions, questions and conversation about tactile experience and our impulse to anthropomorphize "things" as my representational work has. I have titled this show and the body of work "Familiars" because that is the recognition of form for which I've strived-not quite this and not quite that, but most definitely and very mysteriously familiar.

-Lauren DiCioccio

September 2014

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In 2005 I started working in "fiber", using hand-sewing and hand-embroidery to make a body of work that explored the presence, and disappearance, of objects common to day-to-day life and the relationships we make to them. The materials, tools and time-intensive labor associated with the material conjure opposing feelings of precious and pathetic that these ubiquitous, and often disposable or overlooked, objects possess.

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"Textile Artist, weaving stories that connect us through patterns and colors."

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Villasana decribing her process and the purpose behind her work

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Artist Victoria Villasana creates beautiful artwork for UN exhibition  | WaterAid

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This article was crowdfunded by our readers

On Instagram, @Villanaart describes herself as Mexican yarn bombastic textile /street artist, to the growing number of people that follows her in the many thousands. For us she is also an uncompromising talent whose work is true testimony of our times, from the point of view of a young artist, a woman and a mother, raised in traditions that she shares with a global audience, and a culture that she celebrates along with all others as for her, empathising with other communities is the only way to move forward.

Under the tag name of 'Villana' (means female villain in Spanish), her street art work elevates the overlooked to highlight unfairness. Bright colours bring hope, and also shed a glow of optimism and power on the hand picked portrayed subjects that Villana unveils as true visionaries (sometimes villains) of our times, for their inner power to change things and people around them. She resents the present lacking from good leaders, hence her art is an invitation to remember these musicians, writers, activists .. so we keep them in our minds and hearts, to help us believe in our own power to change things.

The use of yarn, a traditionally female craft, has been repurposed by Villana's art to be the new umbilical cord that will link us back to our mother civilisations; a rope to bond us together, such is the essence of human belonging, but also to strangle injustice and restrain unfairness.

Victoria Villasana was born in 1982 in Guadalajara, Mexico. After studying design at university in Mexico, she spent over a decade in London where she became well known in the street art community for her rebellious femininity and acute cross-cultural imagery.

The dynamism in her work derives from the way the yarn is left uncut, far below the frame, giving a surreal aesthetic reflecting in the acceptance of transience and imperfection. Now residing in Mexico, her work is shown in exhibitions and public installations around the world.

Could you tell us about your childhood, and growing up, and starting as an artist. What were the experiences and people in your life that influenced you to do what you do now?
My parents are accountants! So not very creative surroundings, but since I can remember I lived in my fantasy world and growing up in Mexico fuelled my curiosity, I used to love making things with my hands and in my teens I made a lot of surrealist paintings. I started studying design in Mexico but I feel my real push in my creativity happened when I moved to London in my early 20's.

What are your memories from London?
Feeling free, excited, incredibly inspired by architecture, the way people dressed, the museums, the arts, the multiculturalism, great friendships, love, melancholy, pain, feeling so lonely, overall a lot of life experiences that opened my mind in different aspects in my life.

Your work has been featured in the press alongside street art heavy weights, and you continue to work from time to time with prominent international street artists. What would be your ultimate collaboration?
There's so many amazing street artist that I admire but I think Banksy would be the ultimate collaboration. I love the simplicity of the ideas and I love that the art is always speaking up about humanity, plus I love the humours criticism to society and politics in the pieces.

What does activism mean for you? What is the role the artists should play in society and the moral economy?
Activism can come in different forms and everybody should do it from their own window but I think specially artists need to speak up using art as way to create a bridge to connect and move and question people about our humanity.

On the hot topic of identity, and gender gaps. How is life as a female artist, and mother? Is there gender equality in street art?
I really like the balance I have between parenthood and creativity. At the beginning I remember feeling a bit weird specially because I started doing this when I was a mum, so I felt like a such a rebel mother! Haha but then I met a lot of people of different ages, people in forties, fifties, pregnant women etc..putting street art, it was great - I felt I found my tribe! In terms of payment I don't really know but between my male peers I feel a lot of support and encouragement even my work seems to be very feminine.

On a different hot topic: where is the boundary between cultural celebration and appropriation?
I don't know. To be able to have an influence from something you have to respect it a lot, yet simply copying is a different story. I can only speak of my work and my work is my story, a collage of influences from when I was growing up in Mexico to when I was in London working as florist and then in fashion everything that I have experienced has influenced the work I make today.

How to you find it reaching to international audiences and the global art arena from Mexico?
Instagram has a huge influence on that. Most of my works, collaborations, press, commissions, projects etc... I get it from Instagram.

How do you describe your typical follower/collector?
This really surprised me. At the beginning I thought it was mainly my mum but then I realised a lot of male and female from different ages and backgrounds liked it too. I think that's my biggest satisfaction that my art connects with people from all backgrounds and not just a small elite interested in art.

How do you think your project evolving in the future?
I'd love to do other types of mix-media and installations. I'd love to do more installations!

What does Victoria do when she is not doing art or being a mum? What kind of music do you listen to, books you read, or special places for you.
I love walking and dancing, music is the fuel of my ideas and it helps me to connect with my feelings and emotions. I love reading about anything especially when is informative. I love literature and philosophy and I love being lazy whenever I can! haha

To find out more about about Victoria Villasana's work visit victoriavillasana.com. Follow Victoria on Instagram!

Independent art journalism needs your support

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Freedom from strings attached - Victoria Villasana interview

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This article was crowdfunded by our readers On Instagram, @Villanaart describes herself as Mexican yarn bombastic textile /street artist, to the growing number of people that follows her in the many thousands.

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Villasana's website

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Victoria Villasana (born in Guadalajara, Mexico) is a textile artist, interested in cultures & human spirit, looking at how cultures connect to each other in a fragmented, post-digital world. After studying design at ITESO University in Mexico, she moved to London where she trained and worked as a florist and fashion stylist.

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Threads of Inspiration :: The Art of Victoria Villasana

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Artist Website

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Since graduating with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 2011, Inge Jacobsen has exhibited in galleries and exhibitions in the UK, USA, France, Germany, Australia and Sweden. Most notably she has exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, Tate Britain, Cork Street Gallery and SHOWstudio Shop, a gallery owned and run by renowned photographer Nick Knight.
Jacobsen continues to develop new work as part of her practice and has sold pieces in the US, Europe and Australia.

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Since graduating with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 2011, Inge Jacobsen has exhibited in galleries and exhibitions in the UK, USA, France, Germany, Australia and Sweden. Most notably she has exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, Tate Britain, Cork Street Gallery and SHOWstudio Shop, a gallery owned and run by renowned photographer Nick Knight.

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Interview

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Kirsty Whitlock interview: Embroidery transforms - TextileArtist.org

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Kirsty Whitlock describes her goal to push the boundaries of embroidery and textile art through the use of a variety of materials and their application.

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Lynn Skordal: Alternate Reality | School of Stitched Textiles

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Lynn Skordal Lynn Skordal has been described as a collage, embroidery and mixed media artist. It's therefore no surprise that her work is eclectic; often made from stamps found in the street, vintage pictures, magazines and books. She uses whatever she finds and inspires her to create Munchesque dr

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Inkblot / Rorschach:
- Ben Quilty
- Herman Rorschach
- Andy Warhol
- Lee Bermejo
Tessellation / Pattern:
- Maurits Cornelis Escher
- Jason Panda
- Emily Grosvenor
- Anni Albers
- Yayoi Kusama

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Textiles
Tessellations
Inkblots
cardboard sculptures
Rorschach
--watercolor?
--ink?
--paint?

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- Scissors
- Rulers
- Paint brushes
- Hot glue guns
- Brayers
- General clay tools
- Kiln
- Markers/Colored pencils/Crayons
- White liquid/Glue sticks/Hot glue sticks
- Masking tape/Clear tape
- White drawing paper/Construction paper
- Watercolor/Acrylic paint
- Clay
- Printing ink

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-Cardstock
-Printer paper
-elmer's glue sticks/liquid glue
-black and white photo (printed)
-large yarn needles
-masking/painters tape?
-glue
-scissors
-embroidery floss

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-Street and textile artist
-inspired by East London Street Art
-Blends history/tradition with modern textiles and patterns
-Symbolism
Visionaries (yarn around eyes)
Trails of yarn
-imperfect/transient/
umbilical cord
-immersed in media and commercial organizations

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-Harry Styles
-Rihanna
-Michelle Obama
-Iliza Schlesinger
-Leonardo DiCaprio
-Zendaya
-AOC