Subversive stitches: Needlework as activism in Australian feminist art of the 1970s

Abstract

The 1970s saw a flourishing of interest in needlework as an activist material within feminist visual arts practice. Ridiculed and undervalued within the discourse of male-centred visual arts, needlework was reimagined for its limitless possibilities by feminist artists, ushering in an era of experimentation with formerly neglected materials. For feminist artists, needlework signified the despised domestic feminine, while simultaneously representing women’s resistance to and subversion of male dominance. Needlework was a reminder of women’s oppression under patriarchy but, concurrently, needlework carried with it its own culture, specific to women’s her-story. In an era when women’s liberation critiqued the domestic as oppressive to women’s lives, feminist artists working with needlework saw a radical possibility in bringing attention to the domestic as not simply a site of oppression, but of creativity. This chapter discusses the emergence of feminist needlework in the 1970s and its relationship to the burgeoning politics of second-wave feminism, using the Sydneybased Women’s Domestic Needlework Group (1976–80) as a case study. Particular attention is given to artwork produced by feminist artist