Fiona Crawford

Supervisors: Dr Carole Wilson and Dr Jill Orr
School of Arts
fionacrawford@students.federation.edu.au
Masters

“When you go looking for me, I’m not there: Description through absence”

When women don’t have access to public voices, their stories may be told through symbols and sewing, publicly viewed but understood by an audience of intimates. This practice led visual arts research project builds upon my residency in May 2016 in Assisi, Italy. I take the history, principles and materials of Punto Assisi to explore description through absence. Punto Assisi, an embroidery tradition predating the Renaissance, is still practiced by women of Assisi. The patterns and form, highly stylised, are derived from the exterior of medieval San Rufino Cathedral in Assisi. Uniquely, the subject matter is void, empty of detail. This resonates with my interest in the ubiquity and anonymity of women’s work.

Basing this body of work on the concept of drawing with thread to manifest content I started in my contemporary application of the Punto Assisi style and technique with an understanding of the rules and limitations I would adhere to, and those transgressions I would make to ensure the works were my own. Studio practice revealed insight into imagery, form, palette and the materiality of making. Traditional symbols revealed new meanings in a contemporary context. Through constraints I found creativity. In absence, I found description.

Fiona Crawford is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Fee-Offset Scholarship through Federation University.