solitary stitches
- Artist: Elham Fatapour
- Medium: Video Installation
- Project Type: Independent Projects
- Neighbourhood: Etobicoke
“solitary stitches” is performance video art that explores the artist's solitary relationship with the land, using the seemingly domestic act of sewing.
Location
K Building
- Address: 29 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive
- Physical Access: Wheelchair accessible
- Indoors/Outdoors: Indoors
The Project
Embroidery, one of the oldest crafts in the world, has traditionally been viewed as a domestic skill associated with women. However, women have used embroidery as a tool of resistance, subverting traditional gender roles and expressing their creativity and agency. Embroidery thus has enduring potential as a mode of feminist expression and resistance. “solitary stitches” is a performative video installation in which the artist uses the land as a cross-stitching mat to embroider patterns and sew the cracks in the ground. The shifts in the land are contrasted with its durability and dominance over time, as weather disappears the stitches, demonstrating the impermanence and transition of life. Sewing on the land also represents a meditation practice, usually performed in private. In this performance, the artist brings the intimate act of embroidery from its designated private sphere to the public. This video installation explores the connection between the body, the land and history, conveying the nexus of place.
The Artist
Elham Fatapour is a Toronto-based artist who received her MFA at York University in Visual Art. She works with a wide range of mediums, including painting, performance, and mixed-media installation. Her work addresses diverse but interconnected subjects, including satellite usage, surveillance, vernacular architecture, modes of communication and empathy.
Acknowledgements
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Exhibition Sponsor
“solitary stitches” was created with support from the Ontario Arts Council.