vast space in stitch.

Artist Suchitra Mattai combines bold patterned fabrics with a futuristic style of drawing and needlework to explore the vastness and tininess of space.


Showing emptiness while simultaneously showing industrialization.



Her stitching technique is neat and precise which compliments the concept of her work. She states:

The act of embroidery is integral to the theme. The human hand is very present in the dots and lines used to create each piece. It is the connection of the thread to cloth, the actual act of mark-making with thread that builds each landscape.

In my work I try to construct a bewildering place, a puzzle of disparate pieces and memories culled from the noise of sensory details. These landscapes are imagined worlds where spaces are both filled and emptied, united, yet divided. Color is one of the most important formal tools I utilize. Bright bold colors ignite otherwise barren landscapes. The uninhabited scapes are meant to evoke a sense of isolation while stylization takes the work into the realm of the fairytale. The juxtaposition of diverse sources—patterns, silhouettes, ornament, and color from Indian textiles, Japanese prints, maps, pop culture, and fairytales—further intensifies the feeling of psychological confusion. These landscapes serve to help me make sense of the visual, cultural, and psychological phenomena that shape my existence.

She also creates some gorgeous paintings and drawings that continue her body of work on this theme. Her style reminds me a bit of my talanted friend Jaclyn Mednicov. Suchitra's website is behaving a little funky so I have not been able to see all of her work but perhaps you will have better luck.