Of Love and Sorrow in Mosquito Letters

Of Love and Sorrow in Mosquito Script (2019-2020) is a cyanotype series reflecting what I understood to be some common experiences in the embroidery and language of women in China and the Balkans. Embroidery and women’s artwork in general has been a space of freedom and communication for centuries, in varied contexts in which their bodies and language have been restrained by societal expectations. Whether it was despite corsets or foot-binding, or the lack of access to formal education, women have been finding ways to express their feelings and pass on knowledge among each other through their handcraft, creating a new sort of language, one of small things, of intimacy, of poetry. The cyanotypes, incorporating both drawing and embroidery, represent fragments of the feminine experience – women’s stitching and language from the Balkans, and elements of Nushu (女书) and decorative needlework. Throughout my practice I have focused on small formats because for me ropography came to signify a sanctuary of love and communication between women across cultures and centuries.