Nipples, Oranges and Dreamlands.
What’s the point to create?
If that question sounds pessimistic to you, I want to clarify it is not supposed to.
But for the last few days I have a lot of thoughts turning around in my head, wondering why humans are creative and what their thrive to materialize those ideas they have is about.
More specifically I was asking myself those very same questions.
In fact, working on those embroideries is what inspired me to follow those thoughts.
I have always found embroidery a very magical technique and a very beautiful visual. But never had the courage or the determination to really try it out myself, fearing I wouldn’t bring up the patience to get something started or even finished anyways.
When I had the chance to get to use those machines this time, my head was overflowing.
Overflowing with excitement, ideas, enthusiasm…
All the project involving embroidery that I ever had in my life came running into my brain.
Want some examples?
See-through dresses, covered in flower embroidery, letting the skin shine through in the parts I would decide it to. And covered in flowers, where you want to keep your privacy. A dress for a flower goddess wandering around in the woods.
Nipples, why are we so afraid of showing nipples? Well, I wanted to do all sorts of them different colors and shapes all over. Create a pattern. Or a dress? Lingerie?
Ill stop here. I could just go on and on like that.
Some ideas were also not really my own, or let’s say very inspired by clothes I have seen on other people.
Nevertheless, now that I was sitting in front of this machine with all my ideas, I realized, that all of them involve a big production. A huge production of embroidered designs, shapes, patterns.
But do I want to just be sitting there and produce?
At least two nipples made it onto a very see-through fabric.
I thought it would be fun to make a bra(lette) out of it.
And then I was wondering why should I even produce anything?
Everything already exists. What is the point of me adding something new, in a slightly different version than someone else already did?
Again, these are not pessimistic questions. I actually enjoy questioning my work all together.
In this time where everything turns around consumption, I don’t want to be part of it. And not even in a sustainable way.
If I sew some sustainable, fair and slow fashion clothes out of fabric. I am still producing more clothes. Do we really need more clothes?
Do we really need another flower embroidered dress?
Too me the answer is no.
Meanwhile for someone else it might be yes, which I wouldn’t judge at all.
After all, by having access to those embroidery machines now (that I have dreamt of for ages), I realized how much I appreciate my minimalistic way of creating even with all the little annoying restrictions it brings me.
More specifically I realized, that when I upcycle shirts or curtains or any secondhand material, I don’t have to justify my act of adding something new into this world. I am simply altering what’s already there. Turning it into my own ideas and versions of itself.
And eventually when I am going to have a really cool idea about how to embroider things on any secondhand items, I could go back to the embroidery machine and create without producing something new.
What do you think, why do we have this urge to create? Or better, why do you create things? Or was I too confusing and you are like “what is she talking about?”
Thanks for all your visits, I much appreciate all of you! Have a lovely weekend.
(all photos are mine, taken by me)