Interpreting Mending - A Series of Postcards Part 1

Have you heard of Pameran Poskard?  I was aware of this art exhibition of postcards but I didn't realise that anyone could take part.   This year, my friends encouraged me to participate and pointed out that the works did not have to be on paper (as a conventional postcard would be).  So, last month I got started and created my textile art postcards based on my favourite theme of mending.

Sketchbook illustrations

But this time, it was an interpretation of mending - what does it mean, what are the different types of mending and how can it be used, how does it affect us as a society? I took my sketchbook out and started scribbling words that came to mind, and sketched different interpretations of mending. It's a very fulfilling part of the journey to creating art. Even though you may not use all your ideas for the project, it's very useful to go back to the sketchbook in the future to reflect and improve on the ideas. I find that an illustration / sample that I had done would find itself useful a few months or even years later!

My Interpretations of Mending

My initial thoughts when thinking of mending were darning, weaving, fix, stitch, weld, kintsugi and fabric (amongst others). I suppose these are related to what I have been advocating - taking good care of possessions and making them last longer through mending.   

I dived deeper - when does other types of mending occur, what is the result? Words that came to mind were protection, safety, scars of abuse / violence/ tragedy / instability, superficial solutions/ mending etc. I then transformed these words into illustrations.

Interpreting Them into Stitch

It took me a while to interpret the illustrations into stitch, but I got there!

I did not use any new materials (except for the thread) in the project. 

Since this project is about mending, I wanted to stay true to the meaning behind it and use whatever materials I had in the home.

Final Works to be  Exhibited

Stay tuned! I will update in a later post. See the postcards here!

The work will be exhibited and on sale at Pameran Poskad, 15 - 24 June, ION Art Gallery, ION Orchard.  Details here.