Keywords: burning, canada, doileys, embroidered, lizz aston, ontario, paper, thread, toronto, free-motion

Antiquated Notions

Lizz Aston

Dimensions

350 x 335 x 7 mm (largest)

Materials

Doileys (4): free-motion embroidery and burning using paper fibres and polyester thread

Artist statement

‘I find a great sense of poeticism in knot-work, being one of our oldest, most basic yet sophisticated technologies. There is an endless wealth of ideas, associations and symbolism to knots and knotting. I am interested in the knot as a universal language, one that carries residual histories and memory, connecting the past to the present as a living tradition.

Antiquated Notions is a series of burn studies exploring the relationships and residual connections we feel to domestic objects of the past. The patterns and forms take reference from the knotted and interlaced structures of lace doilies. The process of free-motion embroidery and burning are used to intricately render a fabric of negative spaces, as the images are laboriously burnt-out and excavated from within the fibre. Each piece examines themes of attachment, transience and mourning, while celebrating a reverence for the preciousness of materials and the handmade object.’

Behind the scenes

Love Lace: Work in progress