Domestic Language and Textile Subversion: The Making of Femininity through Embroidered Text in the Work of Contemporary Artists
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https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4674-2818
Abstract
Since the sixteenth century, embroidery has been framed as a feminine and domestic art form, devalued in comparison to intellectual arts and employed as a means of discipline and control in women’s education, thus restricting both their creative agency and their position within the artistic field. In contemporary art, embroidery, particularly in the form of stitched text, is reclaimed and reworked to subvert these inherited meanings and to challenge traditional constructions of femininity. Through the work of contemporary artists, entrenched ideas surrounding the domestic sphere, the family, and gender roles are critically examined, revealing how embroidery is reappropriated today as a strategy to make these structures visible, to interrogate them, or to actively overturn them. In the works of Jana Sterbak and Catalina Mena, the contradictions and latent violences of the home are exposed; Aya Haidar and Kate Kretz foreground unpaid domestic and emotional labor, particularly motherhood; while JC Aguirre, Daniela Spector, and Andrea Dezsó explore the complexities of the mother–daughter relationship, transforming embroidery into a vehicle for social critique and personal expression.
How to Cite
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embroidery, textile, femininity, contemporary art
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