Shea Wilkinson

Puget
silk, cotton, polyester thread, cotton thread, silk thread
32 x 48 in.

I’m a textile artist working in stitch to highlight a range of themes, cycling between science fiction and the natural world. To me, there is not much difference between the two.

My atlases show what remains after a glacier has carved its way through the landscape, leaving the ground both pockmarked and mountainous. The landscapes were inspired by the maps of Lewis and Clark, and I used hand-embroidery to emulate the distinct look of hand-drawn topographical markings. I’m interested in utilizing the oldest mapping equipment around – our brains – to make these places come alive.

Every group of stitches represents an elevation or depression, and I enjoy daydreaming of the contours and deciding how steep the hills and valleys should be, and whether there will be subtle erosion or drastic alterations to the land. There is another reality that comes to being with each group of swooping stitches, the story of the landscape becoming clearer with every pass of the needle through the surface.

© Shea Wilkinson