Frayed Vision
Exhibition essay by Michaela Bear
We place so much emphasis on sight, yet often we don’t really see…
…failing to pause…
…failing to feel the subtleties of the world…
…failing to embrace the frayed edges of our human existence that reveal our vulnerable selves.
Lottie Emma invites us to look
deeply
Embellished eyes hold our gaze, unblinking and direct…an act not many humans are willing
to share with each other for more than a few moments…
too afraid to look into these windows to the
soul…
and see what lies
beneath shiny adorned irises…
too afraid to share what hides behind our
own eyes.
Lottie brings the beautiful and monstrous internal depths to the surface.
Her textile installations come alive as intricate layers of texture and colour bursting with raw
vitality. They are no longer ‘polite’ flower textiles confined to frames, which used to characterise
her practice until a few years ago.
Lottie breaks the rules to create a style that is uniquely hers.
She isn’t afraid to take up
space…
to release
the restrictive confines that society places us within…these progress-driven ‘norms’ that disconnect us from
our true selves.
Lottie celebrates the innate magic of the chaotic, subtle and complex nature of being a human.
Textiles are slow…
soft…
feminine…
bodily…
an expression of care.
The artist honours the textile techniques she has learned over the years, a lineage developed
predominantly by women. Three-dimensional bullion stitching thick with tension speaks to the
realities of holding all the fragmented pieces of life together. Many textured knots make up
Lottie’s life fabric as a mother to a special needs child and as someone with an exquisitely deep
sensitivity and vibrant interior world. These knots keep life interesting and far from mundane,
transforming into bold works of art.
In contrast to tightly-bound and controlled hand-stitching, the artist also embraces the
unexpected bulges and patterns that emerge from free machine embroidery – similar to drawing
with a sewing machine. In other works, accentuated hand-stitched and stuffed bulges
become oozy bodily forms,
reminding us that life isn’t always smooth
and serene.
Her work is…
intuitive…‘Follow those little nudges,’ says Lottie.
surrendered…‘I don't know how something is going to turn out, that's kinda fun.’
Lottie let’s the work be
messy…
‘The creative process doesn't have to be rational like the world.’
She pulls old fabric apart to create something new again.
The materials speak to her, collaborating to reveal unseen sides of the histories hidden in fabric
threads. Several works are made from curtains, now freed from their prior domestic existence.
Given life, love, personality and care,
they transform into something beautiful.
These strange enlivened creatures find solace in one another, creating comfort in community.
This reminds of the enriching chats I've had with Lottie over the last few months…connecting
over similar internal and external experiences and
our visions for a more compassionate world.
‘It's nice to make the world a little more magical for ourselves.’
To stop, to see and feel the simple beauty hiding in plain sight.
Lottie imbues her creations with a refreshing child-like wonder…
‘The weight of something, the texture, the unexpectedness, the
weirdness.’
Many works in the exhibition hang in space…allowing visitors to walk around them, revealing
untamed and intricate detail on their undersides. Veils of translucent fabric bodies subtly
obscure
to reveal a different way of seeing.
Eyes weighed down with dripping pearls,
as their raw edges fray our vision.
Flexible strands pulled free from tight binds…
paired back and vulnerable.
Artworks move when bodies walk past, in intimate dialogue…
fabric is a sheath to skin after all.
The materials in Lottie’s works have lived other lives, hung on bodies and in houses. Subtle
ripples of fabric
animate and soften bold beads and spray paint.
With artwork and a world full of contradictions, Lottie is serious about the need for play.
'SUPER MUM' STRIKES BACK breaks free of expectations placed on women as caregivers…
expectations that women should ‘do it all’ without complaints, while remaining hidden behind the
scenes. The artist questions the diminished value we place on care as a society. Art allows her
to take back agency and do something for herself.
‘Going back into what I do and make weird monsters.’
The exhibition title has an anger,
a potency,
a force
that matches the vibrancy of Lottie’s works and her
infectious enthusiasm for life. Looking after a special needs child and the lack of support from
broken systems of care have tested her limits. Yet, her son has shown her a wonderfully unique
outlook on life.
‘Having a child like Cooper changed everything, I felt different about people.’
In a studio visit we ponder what is ‘normal’?
In a world that is so strange, dehumanising, and isolating, feeling normal seems impossible.
Lottie offers us a portal into her raw and wild inner world, reminding us to embrace the dynamic
complexity of life’s joys and pains...to express the emotional vulnerabilities of being human that
we don’t often feel safe to share and to allow others to do the same.
‘My work is about creating a safe space within yourself.’
‘I always want my work to be fun because that's really important,
I feel a responsibility as an artist to give a sense of hope.’