To Gild the Lily means to add unnecessary details or embellishments onto something already perfect. In this exhibition it is used as a play on words, a reflection of the flower in its truest form and transformed with textured stitching and beading.

Each piece is worked on cotton or linen, saved from sheet packaging or quilting fabric. Some pieces are then hand-dyed with gouache and alcohol inks, with the use of ice to add pattern and depth. On hybrid pieces I use acrylic and oil paints. Silk, cotton and wool threads in various lengths and ply are then used to embroider, as well as glass, acrylic and ceramic beads. All pieces are completed in a Birch embroidery hoop and framed in oak.

The central themes explored in my works are Greek mythology, specifically in my pieces Apollo, Persephone and Ariadne (the sun; spring and the underworld; fertility and passion, cycles of nature.) My other works are based on florals, such as Bird of Paradise, peonies, roses and ranunculus which we grow in our garden.

I am based in Melbourne/Naarm and work out of my home just outside of the Yarra Valley. For the last ten years I have dedicated my spare time to embroidery, knitting, crochet and painting. I love the feeling of pulling a thread through fabric or passing yarn across needles.

Catalogue