Joanna Wilde
Burnt out – the shape of smoke, 2021
raw silk, silk organza and cotton, silk and metallic yarns 64x30cm
This piece is made out of a burnt silk prayer shawl - my yoga prayer shawl was accidentally burnt during practice 50 years after the day when I was trapped in a fire in my childhood home - both parents were out. This work explores the shape of the damage wrought by fire in organic material. The six significantly burnt pieces were cut out of the larger shawl, filled in with black translucent silk organza and detailed with silk and metallic threads worked in boro stitch (reclaiming the old and threadbare) to pay soft attention to the details of the harm. The 6 patches are loosely attached with fraying an explicit part of the design.
Joanna Wilde
Bad touch the muse consumed, 2018
threads used are silk, cotton and metallic - stitched onto solufleece 28x22cm
This is a small self portrait made of threads held together with hand-stitched chain stitch. Separately hand-stitched rosebud lip motifs are used as eyes and mouth. This was made as a meditation on abuse invoking the dissociation/disappearance of self that is consequent upon such experiences. The threads used are silk, cotton and metallic - the latter of which invokes the inflammatory physical damage that remains in the body after trauma. The edges are left deliberately frayed, a possibility inherent to textile and the photograph presents the shadow it casts with the intention to invoke unseen consequences.
