along the lines of—

along the lines of— brought together new and existing works created during my decade-long exploration of hand embroidery. The exhibition presented my conceptual engagement with the medium, drawing connections between systems of abstract mark-making and exercises in text. Deliberately sidestepping the conventional image- and pattern-making techniques associated with needlework, my embroidery practice emphasises the repetitive process of stitching, one that can be simultaneously meditative and tedious, intimate and methodical. With strategies grounded in the textual, embroidery is, for me, a means of slowing down and expanding the acts of thinking, reading, and writing; a way of giving shape to language.

This self-organised solo exhibition was curated by Kirti Upadhyaya, with design by Azelia Ng. It was held at Art Outreach from 12 to 20 August 2023, as part of [hearth], a community art space initiative to support independent Singapore-based practitioners with free space and micro-grant funding to create and exhibit their work.

Photos by Marvin Tang.

The exhibition featured the following works:

• Talismans for Disentanglement

• 4-Colour Study with 32 x 32 Stitches in 4 or 8 Directions (after Sol LeWitt)

• Exercises in Self-Consumption (Remnants I – IV)

• Thought Lines (selected studies)

• 9-Colour Study of 2 Gradients Meeting in 18 (or, 9 × 2) x 81 (or, 92) Diagonal Stitches

• Citations

• An Anthology of Dwelling

• Exercises in Self-Consumption (Spread)

• Colour Studies of Three Fixed Verse Forms in 11x(19; 39; 65) Diagonal Stitches (a villanelle; a sestina; a canzone)