I: the line, the thread
“It takes only a moment to recognize that lines are everywhere. As walking, talking and gesticulating creatures, human beings generate lines wherever they go (...) it subsumes all these aspects of everyday human activity and, in so doing, brings them together into a single field of inquiry’ (INGOLD, 2007, p.1).
The line is present in everything, it’s born from movement, from a point that spread in some direction (KANDINSKY, 2012, p.49). It’s born and formed in movement, just like life. The line lends its contour to the world, it walks along the surface of things (DERDYK, 2010). It follows the line of life, it is present in the contour of the body, and is created by the body in movement.
To use a continuous line in my drawings, without letting go of the surface until the image is ready, is to print the movement of my body in the surface. It is the passage of time, the memory of the process. Tim Ingold remembers that, “As (Paul) Klee memorably put it, the line that develops freely, and in its own time, ‘goes out for a walk’. And in reading it, the eyes follow the same path as did the hand in drawing it” (INGOLD, 2007, p.73).
This continuous line which I explored deeply, with time, expanded into thread.
The first time I embroidered was in 2020, during the pandemic. At that time, I was suffering with anxiety and was looking for a way to distract myself from my thoughts. Even though it started as a hobby or distraction, I started paying attention to that process and realized how much it was related to my previous practice as an artist. Drawing has always been present in my work, as the centre of everything I did or experimented with; it was embedded on my creative process.
From the moment I turned my consciousness to the process of the embroidery, I noticed that what it was being materialized was a new dimension of the line of my drawing: the line turned into thread. It wasn’t separated from my work, it was part of it - it was an expanded form of what I have been previously doing: the drawn line invading the three dimensional space through the thread.
The first contact I had with the concept of the expanded field was from Rosalind Krauss’s 1979 publication, Sculpture in the expanded field, in which the author presented the idea of expanded boundaries in art practices in the contemporary context.
Considering line as the raw material of drawing, an essential element of the language (DERDYK, 2020), and having the awareness that it is originated on the movement, from the body's action in the world, it becomes possible to expand its conceptualization. In the same way, by expanding the idea of drawing as a record/inscription of gesture on flat surfaces to ephemeral and three-dimensional possibilities (DERDYK, 2020), it showcases the ability of this language to interrelate with others and expand as concept - which leaded me to experiment the possibilities of dialogue between different practices.
A personal reference of artist that has their practice located in a dialogue between drawing and embroidery is Bel Barcellos. According to the artist, her work discusses the emotional and psychological aspects that permeate the cycles of life, discussing the dualities of existence and the nuances of human relationships (BARCELLOS). The subject is related directly to which I’m currently focusing on: the intimacy and the imagery of the body. Besides, Barcellos usually portrays the body alone in the space or in contact with only a few people, utilizing simple embroidery stitches, highlighting the linearity of the figures.
“Indeed the line, like life, has no end. As in life, what matters is not the final destination, but all the interesting things that occur along the way. For wherever you are, there is somewhere further you can go” (INGOLD, 2007, p.170). Not only the line has no end, but the process becomes an essential part and opens space to expand in itself.
References
BARCELLOS, B. (no date) Biography. Available at: https://belbarcellos.com.br/belbarcellos/biography/ (Accessed: 24 nov. 2023).
Bel Barcellos (2019) Beneath our feet series [Drawing embroidered on canvas]. Available at: https://belbarcellos.com.br/belbarcellos/beneath-our-feet/ (Accessed: 24 nov. 2023).
DERDYK, E. (2020) Formas de pensar o desenho: desenvolvimento do grafismo infantil. 3rd edition. São Paulo: Panda Educação.
DERDYK, E. (2010) Linha de costura. 2nd edition. Belo Horizonte: C/Arte.
INGOLD, T. (2007) Lines: A Brief History. 1st edition. London: Routledge.
KANDINSKY, W. (2012) Ponto e Linha Sobre Plano. 2nd edition. São Paulo: WMF Martins Fontes.
KRAUSS, R. (1979) Sculpture in the Expanded Field, October, Vol. 8, Spring 1979.
Bel Barcellos. Beneath our feet series, 2019. 70 x 70 cm