When you think erotic art, embroidery probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But the UK-based artist Sally Hewett has set out to change that. Her medium, stitching and embroidery, is often looked upon as innocuous, and that is part of the reason why she chose it. Showing the world that stiches of thread can be just as shocking or scintillating as photographs or drawings, Hewett plays with the way the medium affects how the content is seen. She questions whether, simply by virtue of using a needle and thread, her content becomes more erotic, beautiful or outrageous.
Constantly pushing the constraints of her craft, Sally Hewett steers clear of stitching subject matter like flowers, puppies, and similarly happy or nature-oriented scenes, filling her embroidery hoops instead with breasts and genitalia. She also attempts to add another layer to her work, literally, by giving her embroidery a third, sculptural dimension. Using well-placed stitches, Hewett is able to lend a bulbous, swollen look to her circular compositions that seem to rise out of the embroidery hoops. Further, she uses dangling threads to replicate pubic hair, questioning societal conventions and beauty standards.
According to her artist statement quoted by The Huffington Post,
Men and women almost ritualistically shave and remove hair from their bodies – beards, underarm hair, pubic hair, leg hair etc, whereas other hair – hair on the head, eyebrows, eyelashes – are valued and encouraged to flourish.
She explores the shame of the “special hair” through her works.
