Liberation (2025)
Materials: Single-thread embroidery painting on pure cotton, embellished with cutwork and goldwork embroidery, mounted on 8-inch hoop

 

Liberation by Harita Patel, presents embroidery as both a surface and a threshold, inviting viewers to walk around the polished front of the work to confront an unruly underside of tangled, layered and untidy threads. The piece is made with layers of individually separated and stitched embroidery threads, designed to evoke brush strokes of color on canvas. Cutwork embroidery embellishments surround the lotus, each piece is tightly wound gold wire bullion that is cut by hand to size and individually hand sewn on to the cotton fabric. The circular frame serves as both boundary and portal, the cotton textile is a curtain of reality. By asking the viewer to walk around the work and witness the messy, tangled back, the artist refers the following passage in her poem "Three Lessons": 

 

"With our eyes, all we see​

is the tangled mess underneath. 

To see the other side, we must look inward." 

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