Entangled: Threads and Making

Presented through case studies and essays, Entangled: Threads and Making explores perceptions of the female artist, tackling gender assumptions and questions pertaining to the aesthetics of gender in art. Given the current political climate surrounding the status of gender, the book questions the perception of a feminine “compulsion” to produce work with the hands, and the use of equipment and materials in relation to gender.

The book engages with ideas concerning tactility of materials, palette and details present in an artist’s work and practice, and the process of the hand-made. The artists included in Entangled often utilise traditional craft tools and techniques such as looms and embroidery, however they break away from the mould of using traditional materials through using hair, plant fibres, pig’s intestines and threads. Artists include Kiki Smith, Susan Hiller, Sheila Hicks, Maureen Hodge, Elisabetta Benassi, Anna Ray, Maria Papadimitriou, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Christiane Löhr and Laura Ford, plus historical artist figures such as Louise Bourgeois, Sonia Delaunay, Anni Albers, Hannah Ryggen, Lenore Tawney and Eva Hesse.

The book includes a collection of critical essays and case studies that provide a fascinating insight and contextual grounding to the work.