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

2023
Pearl cotton thread, Aida cloth
23 x 23 cm (unframed)

This embroidery pays homage to American artist Sol LeWitt (1928–2007), whose practice bridged minimalism and conceptual art with works centred on geometry and seriality. It borrows his ‘lines in four directions’ – a motif combining vertical, horizontal, left-to-right diagonal, and right-to-left diagonal lines – which he applied across numerous works in diverse mediums. Here, the lines were created incrementally with rows of regular stitches, using a single length of thread for each row. The nature of the sewing process incidentally results in a secondary design created on the reverse side of the fabric, with lines that run in different directions than that which is seen on the front. Therefore, in employing this medium and method to replicate LeWitt’s system, the artist was able to simultaneously generate two permutations of the motif.