Klaire Purple White
I connect with a long historical use of the subversive act of stitching political and social messages. As a late diagnosed autistic and ADHD adult, I’m deeply sensitive to social injustice and this is often my springboard.
I love working with stitching and have always sewn into things, from photographs, paper to traditional cloth. I especially love mixing hand stitching with free machine embroidery and enjoy drawing with my machine. I often mix it with different textures, colours and materials.
Over time my work has changed from more traditional textile art to experimenting with non recyclable/ hard to recycle plastics and installation techniques. For example, I recently had a sculpture on show in Edinburgh that I made from plastic packaging about the anti abortion laws in the US. Inside, depicted is an embroidered embryo surrounded by red threads imprisoning it along with statements ‘state owned’ and ‘government property’.
My ADHD Umbrella (now on show as part of ‘Shelter’, Outside In’s National touring Exhibition); is about living undiagnosed and the impact that had on my life. I made a video and posted on my YouTube channel about the process behind the piece. I made a series of these called ‘textile tales’.