"Blueprint": Design and Embroidery Overview

 

Closeup photo of "Blueprint"

“Blueprint” is about figuring out. Every shape present and outlined with chain stitch and buttonhole represents areas of a city and country I’m unfamiliar with. No city in particular and no country that exists. Just shapes formed from how my hand moved while thinking about people close to me. 

The first step in the process is documenting what you don’t know. As far as I know, embroidery is something that I force into helping me understand things. The actualisation of this intention can be an overlapping second layer, working from the order of embroidery, that plays with the first. I chose the buttonhole stitch as a consistent technique in this stage because a neutral element had to be included, one that could represent me. The way your train of thought sticks to a set of tracks when you’re focused on an idea and intention. Appearing in the repetitive and uniform structure of every stitch, that kind of consistency can be related. 

Each mix of two stranded cotton threads showcases my singular perception of a given person through colour. With a total of four colours for each person and a myriad of lighter and darker shades between them, I am aiming to express the nuance of personalities and how much I think I know other people. Combinations sometimes share similar shades in proximity to sections but don’t follow any rules that bind them to blend consistently. The goal is to imitate a thought process, and thoughts don't always tend to blend from one idea to another. I think a sweet way of thinking about it is an abrupt cut in colour where you’re thinking about a person you’ve only been on a date or two texting you. A nice surprise. Maybe something commonly experienced in long hour sessions of stitching and maybe a sign to choose a vivider thread that expresses a strengthening of thoughts. Design/Technique and Meaning. 

The richelieu bars holding each enclosed space together stick to an attempt at objective reality. Green represents residential zoning, blue commercial and yellow industrial (credit to Simcity 2013 for those). What I find special about buttonhole in this application is the subtle link I can make between every ridge and numerical statistic; one, one-hundred people/businesses/homes represent every one of those stitches. Those statistics change day by day, and expressing those entities as scaleable and abstract represents them fluidly and justly. Considerations that could be better represented in media like the aforementioned video game or movie yet may feel special when attempted in embroidery. Motion and change visualised in static art. 

Context drives the change in meaning. Zoning with colours that are present in Simcity (a simulacrum of reality) enables a universality where meaning is linked and not lost with what we are used to. While different countries practice different urban planning schemes, those colours won’t be consistently the same across cities. But with Simcity 2013 and “Blueprint”, things are set in stone and universal. Simcity is a game anyone can play, and my shirt fits everyone. XXXL is a great size when you want as much fabric to flow and move with the body as possible. Especially when continuing, from Cuh Opilamonnia Rs the theme of fashion that wants to be worn in cities and around people.

I must be realistic in my lack of understanding of a certain space, community, or location. The effort to understand is key. Therefore, a “Blueprint”, a plan to build a relationship or bond with all your uncertainties, is laid bare. Embroidery that communicates intentions through technique, colour and theory.