Each art collection takes two years to make. I first undertake a large series of mark poems in the form of ink drawings and make a small selection from them. Before these drawings are translated into embroidery, diverse stitch-treatment samples need to be made until the optimum stitch variations have been established. Months are spent placing the embroideries and refining the colour scheme. Finally, the patterns are stitched on to base materials of silk or leather which are then stretched, framed and hung. The smaller pieces contain tens of thousands of stitches and the larger pieces hundreds of thousands. The Breathless body of work is in memory of my father who suffered from heart failure. For almost two years he relied on an oxygen compressor. The pieces titled Inhale, Exhale, Alveoli, Duo Breathless and Cut Breathless were created from my yearning to breathe him back to life." ~ Lucie Feighan
