Mama said sew: stitched samplers, contemporary art and domestic craft

My interest in the history of craft as it relates to women and craft in the context of contemporary art led to a more specific personal curiosity about colonial stitched samplers. The incredible skill and patience young colonial stitchers exhibited, layered with the revelatory nature of stitched samplers, sparked a desire to understand them more thoroughly. This thesis is a hybrid product that includes both writing and research about my interest in colonial stitched samplers, craft and contemporary art, as well as ongoing work on three stitched samplers inspired by both colonial schoolgirl samplers and contemporary artists whose work builds upon the tradition of the stitched sampler.