Matador

Linen and cotton

2018

'Blackwork' is a style of embroidery that originated from Andalucía in Southern Spain and was brought to this country by Catherine of Aragon who was a keen needlewoman. As she had grown up in the Alhambra Palace she was influenced by the geometric repeated patterns used to create larger forms and shapes.

I used to live in Spain and would watch the “Corrida de Torros” frequently. I remember the excitement and energy created by the band of musicians, the ladies in their beautiful ferial costumes and the mesmerising light of the hot blazing sun. The relationship between the matador and the bull represents for me, a mixture of sentiments ranging from beauty, tragedy, drama, loss, failure and unpredictability. The looming presence of death is something that keeps the matador on his toes, awake and aware of his actions and a heightened state of awareness that that glory must be honestly gained.

This piece had been worked on a 35 tpi Edinburgh even-weave linen with a variety of thicknesses of cotton thread, (stranded cotton, coton à broder, machine and gossamer threads). By varying the thickness of the thread I was able to build up areas of dense shadow and shade and other areas that are lighter the pattern is broken up. This has been worked by hand using a square embroidery frame held up with a pair of trestles whilst working. These are traditional methods and ways of working that haven’t changed since the Middle Ages.