Stitching for Survival - Michele Walker

The textile work in the exhibition was made in response to research into Japanese sashiko stitched work-wear. In 2003 Michele Walker (textile artist) was awarded a three-year Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts that has enabled her to undertake extensive fieldwork in Japan. Through these visits she was able to uncover some of the personal histories fundamental to the understanding of these garments, the patterns of which protected the body both physically and spiritually.

Michele Walker’s research comes at a critical time when the wearing of sashiko is barely within living memory. The lives of elderly makers and specialists, together with their knowledge, skills and traditional landscape of existence is rapidly drawing to a close.

The work in the exhibition was made in response to Walker’s travels in Japan; not only in search of those ‘lost women’ who made sashiko but also to seek knowledge of the cultural traditions that shaped their lives.

Studies, preliminary models and photographs provided a valuable insight into her approach to work, alongside several examples of historical sashiko garments.

Major works included Maker’s Unknown, originally commissioned by Fabrica in 2005. Michele Walker was the recipient of the 2003 Wingate scholarship.