Patricia Casey has a new display of hand-embroidered photographs – with silk, cotton, or metallic thread on georgette, watercolour paper or archival cotton. Her show, Murmurs, is aptly titled – soft, indistinct and heartfelt meditations on the human condition.
The artist narrates her creative process: “In 2007 I began printing photographic montages on materials such as georgette or watercolour paper and more recently on archival cotton. I then embroider specific areas of the image plane with cotton or metallic threads. The act of working with a needle and thread transforms my hands into instruments of memory, as muscle memory and the rhythm of the repetitive nature of the work itself takes over. There is a meditative quality to the production as the hands have a certain tacit knowing and can continue to work while the mind contemplates.”
Murmur is Casey’s most heavily embroidered work to date, with the metallic threads glittering and dancing across the surface of the photographic elements. “My images are open-ended,” she says, “and have a tension between beauty and unease.”
Patricia Casey was a finalist in the Chippendale New World Art Prize 2014 and Winner of the Head On Photographic Portrait Prize in 2006. She has been shortlisted for a number of prestigious art prizes including the National Photography Prize in 2010 and the Sir John Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2002 and 2005. She completed her Master of Visual Arts (Research) degree in 2009 and Master of Studio Arts in 2006 at the University of Sydney. She has received a number of awards and her work is held in major public and private collections.
The artist has been invited to represent Australia at the International Festival of Photography PhotoVisa 2015 in Krasnodar, a region of the Black Sea, Russia. The theme this year is the Language of Memory.
