Rosie Sykes

Drawing with thread is at the heart of Rosie Sykes’ hand embroidery practice. She is compelled by narrative, creating a web that ties together all aspects of her current process, devising a story and character for each project.

Always beginning with illustration Rosie uses lines to capture the details of a subject, then allowing these to translate into technical embroidery.

Inspired by the way lives can be documented through photography, across birthdays, friendships, and historical events; cameras are the main focus of the project.

Immortality, Memory, and Obsession. ‘Camera Obscura’ depicts the extended life of a woman through costume, whose slow memory loss is depicted through hand embroidered imagery of vintage cameras.

Rosie illustrated the story of this unnamed character’s life, looks from their early life in the 1800s, up until the 1960s. The 1940s look was then embroidered using a mixture of metal threads and wool, onto vintage garments.