Pins and needles

In this project, the girls were tasked with making a pin cushion to hold a set of sewing pins. They were required to research the history of the mandala and use the simple mindfulness tool of colouring in as a starting point to develop their felt mandala pin cushion design, using personal and cultural symbols to create their own unique mandala pattern.

The specifications given for the task were that they could only use the materials supplied in the mandala pin cushion kit, the mandala had to fit into a teacup or small tin, it had to be able to hold pins and the construction had to be to a high standard to withstand the test of time.

Ms Wells comments: “We used Microsoft Teams and Schoolbox (DioConnect) at Diocesan School for Girls and luckily for us the girls all had digital devices and had access to the internet, so we were able to post the lesson plans up on Microsoft Teams class pages and on our Schoolbox class pages.

“During lockdown we held our usual 50-minute lessons to a regular timetable so we did ‘show and tells’ for our Year 9 students to check on progress and the students were able to share their mandala development drawings and concepts on screen with the class and explain their design outcome. This was good as it meant students were able to interact face to face with each other like in a normal classroom.

“Students were able to assemble their mandala pin cushion when we returned to school, so this was fun as we all got to see them come together as a class.

“Feedback from the students was fantastic – they all said they enjoyed the project as it didn’t take too long to complete each step and they were happy to research and draw at home. They loved the Mindfulness colouring in as this helped them relax. They also said the best part was when they started stitching as it meant they could have a few lessons offline – giving them a much-needed break from digital devices.

“We as teachers also enjoyed just catching up with them one-on-one on the Microsoft Teams chat to answer any questions or we could video chat to discuss any stitching issues.”

Ms Wells presented her lockdown kits to other teachers from around New Zealand at the HETTANZ (Home Economics & Technology Teachers Association New Zealand) Conference in Taupo on 29 May.

This year she has initiated an afterschool sewing group that meets on a Tuesday afternoon, bringing along sewing projects and spending the afternoon in an atmosphere of congeniality, sharing ideas and helping each other with any problems. Even Ollie, the resident school cat, comes along. He chose not to bring a project, but to provide the homely ambiance of contented purring from the depths of the scrap fabric pile as the humans industriously work away.

Beautiful work Susan!

STEAM in a teacup

Congratulations to Susan Wells, TIC material design technology, for taking first place in the TENZ Teacher Lockdown Competition for her Years 9 & 10 mandala pin cushion and Sashiko kits. Teachers were asked to submit a digital resource, lesson or activity that they could teach online in any of the technology areas or STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics).

THINKING

OUTSIDE THE SQUARE

Ms Wells’ story of her love of needlecraft is an interesting one and we share it with you here.

On 26 February I had the great pleasure of flying to Nelson to attend the Changing Threads Award Ceremony at The Refinery Artspace. I was chosen as one of 40 finalists from a picking of more than 500 entrants. This is an annual award run by The Refinery Artspace and Nelson Council to showcase New Zealand artists who use craft methodologies within a contemporary practice, pushing the boundaries through concept. Unfortunately, I didn’t win an award this year, however, I truly enjoyed the whole experience of being in an exhibition again! It was so exhilarating, and I realised it’s been far too long – roll on Changing Threads 2022!

My love for needlework began when I was as young as I can remember. My mother was a sample machinist for many years and worked for sewing factories around Auckland, later moving to Whangamata with my father. When I was about 12 years old, she set up a sewing school/ factory from our sleepout, a training incentive for young women on the unemployment benefit to learn how to sew on an industrial scale. Some of these girls went on to sew in larger sewing factories like Bendon in the central North Island. I used to spend hours in her sewing room making things and often helped in the factory.

My mother also taught me how to hand sew and brought me my first Bernina sewing machine when I was 13. I loved anything creative. My father was a jewellery designer and maker, and a carpenter, so I was brought up in a very creative household.

At the age of 16 I went and worked at the Bendon sewing factory in Te Aroha and continued to do hand stitching as a hobby. However, it was when I was at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2011 that the idea for the ‘Collaborative Stitching Project’ was initiated. In my fourth and final year of my BFA Honours degree I decided I wanted to revisit traditional craft methodologies such as cross stitch within a fine art practice, as this was what I felt most passionate about. Drawing on my knowledge of geometric abstract painting and the history of craft methodologies, the emphasis of my research and practice is on the role of craft traditions infiltrating and changing the languages of contemporary painting and installation. The craft methodologies I have pursued address issues of domesticity and the feminine.

Using previous paintings I had made as a starting point for composition and colour choice, I re-worked the paintings with needle and thread (cross-stitch). Following the principle ‘taking something old and making something new’, my use of existing compositions and colours meant I was able to concentrate on the making as something experienced over time. This allowed time for decision making (to think), for conceptual engagement, and for piecing together past and present.

The pattern I used for the Collaborative Stitching Project came from four paintings I had completed in the second

year of my degree. I sent out surveys to my year level asking what their favourite and least favourite colours were and where to place a small square within a big square – top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right or centre. I numbered the surveys as they came back, these squares were then laid out from left to right across a canvas in numerical order, forming four painting compositions consisting of 20 squares on each. This concept to develop a composition based on chance was inspired by German artist Gerhard Richter and his painted series 4900 Colours.

I then started stitching this now cross stitch pattern by myself but soon realised that stitching takes time! I only had 12 months to make my mark as an artist. It was suggested by my tutors Simon Ingram and Allan Smith that I needed to go big – I was sent home to watch the movie Made in Dagenham, a 2010 British film directed by Nigel Cole. It dramatised the Ford sewing machinists’ strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women. This was a powerful message for me as I realised that as a female artist, I was going to have to make a pretty big impression to succeed and I couldn’t do this alone.

As we do in times of need, I rang my mum and asked her if she was willing to help me rally up some craftswomen to help. Within a week I had her Busy Fingers group on board.

I emailed and sent letters to each Embroiders Guild branch around New Zealand, explaining my project. Over the next 12 months I sent out over 100 kits to these many craftswomen. I was delighted to receive all the crossstitched pieces back by mail in time for my final exhibition. The cross-stitched pieces were all different as the only thing I asked was for each stitcher to follow the old term often used to make things sustainable – ‘just make do’ – to use what leftover threads they had in their sewing kits. If they did not have a specific colour, they could improvise. This provided many different variations. Some women even got creative and changed the entire pattern.

As each work came back, I numbered these and documented who made it, where it was from and the date. And like the original paintings, this then informed the composition of the first panel of 100 stitched works. I also received letters and cards from these women and men stating how proud they were to be part of something that would be exhibited within a fine art context.

My mum and I sewed these all together into a large 670mm x 800mm panel and I built a frame for the work to hang in so it could be viewed from both sides as all the signatures are on the back of each work. This was then exhibited at the Elam Graduation Show.

I achieved my Bachelor of Fine Arts with Second Class Honours. I was also chosen as one of 18 graduates from around New Zealand to exhibit this collaborative work and a few of my own pieces in the Best in Show 2012. The work has also been published in the ANZEG Threads magazine, Object Art publication 2012 and in Gallery 36 magazine.

Craft is empowering. It allows us to be involved with every part of production, so there is a sense of personal power in making the crafted objects, but more than that, craft is empowering within communities.

My exploration of ideas occurs through collaborative, participatory and community-orientated projects: in particular, The Collaborative Stitching Project, and my involvement with Embroiders’ Guilds and Craft Groups from around the country has contributed to the increasing depth and range of my research. The Collaborative Stitching Project has exceeded my expectations and has developed into a much bigger community project, currently with 278 contributors, 276 women and two men.

This project continued past Elam and there are to date three panels that consist of 300 works. The two last panels had never been shown - as I have been busy since Elam raising my three children and becoming a teacher - until this year, when I was chosen to exhibit in the Changing Threads Awards at the Refinery Artspace in Nelson. It was a proud achievement for me and all my collaborators!

Above: My initial compositions as paintings in my studio at Elam; the very first stitched piece when I was trialling the pattern; one of the three finished panels.