Alchemy Embroidery - Collaboratively Altering Paper with Needle and Thread

The history of a society or an individual can be told through textiles, and these narratives may not be present in other historical records. The only trace of a life lived may be found on an embroidered piece of cloth. Embroidery has enormous cultural significances being valued as an expressive medium in many cultures and becoming a storehouse of art and the emotions and history that can be associated with it.

In this workshop you will be introduced to embroidery stitches that will be applied to paper which can be delicate, fragile, easily torn, pierced and mended.

Over 3 hours which will start with demonstrations and practice, we will work together and restore a purposely damaged print, bringing shards of paper and ink together to create a collaborative new version of a work of art on paper.

This workshop is part of a series that will connect community to chat and share creative time using needle, thread and paper as the catalysts and leading to an all participants event during the 2024 Culture Days in September to exhibit and present our restored works of art.

Everyone is welcomed to join in, no matter what your level of stitching might be.

About the Instructor:

Mary Kroetsch’s practice is research-creational integrating mixed methods of making to push and explore the problems arising from limitations and disconnects that happen when many layers impact surfaces, production, and fabrication.

She obtained Certification in Textile Surface Design from the Haliburton School of the Arts, studied Visual Arts Foundations at Central Tech Art School, Toronto, and completed the Ontario Arts Council’s Artist-Educator Foundations Course.

She completed her Studio Arts Degree with the University of Guelph, Ontario in 2023.

Her work has recently been part of exhibitions at the Elora Centre for the Arts (Elora, Ontario) the Propeller Art Gallery, (Toronto, Ontario), the Boarding House Gallery, (Guelph, Ontario), and the 2020 Ateliers Kitchen Print Biennial, (Charmes, France).

Mary’s works are part of private and public collections including St. Michael’s Hospital, (Toronto, Ontario), the Ilkley Museum, (Yorkshire, England) and the CAMAC Centre for Art and Technology, (Marnay, France).

Host or Publisher Guelph Museums