Stitch & Peacock, Danica Maier, The Collection, Lincoln, 27 September 2014-11 January 2015
Stitch & Peacock is a solo exhibition by American artist and academic Danica Maier exploring hidden aspects of textile history. The new series of work revolves around a little-known embroidered Jacobean bedspread, and is firmly rooted within the Lincolnshire textile collection and history of embroidery. A new wall painting, drawings and stitched works are on display, as well as a selection of embroidery and textiles from The Usher Gallery collection.
Maier’s work often hones in on domestic objects, questioning their roles and that of women in relation to labour. In her own words, by ‘using subtle slippages and moments of detail to transgress propriety’, the viewer is encouraged to ponder the norms of everyday life. According to Ashley Gallant from The Collection, this is also true for Maier’s latest show: “Danica’s work brings to the fore the heartfelt, funny and titillating side of textile history. Inspired by our embroidering archives, she has created a large wall painting and a series of intricate drawings that are not what they first seem. In doing so, Danica cleverly sidesteps common ideas about these crafts, often seen as women’s work or part of the domestic realm, and investigates alternative concepts hidden within the history of stitch.”
