Needlepoint West

Jessie Deane threads together over a million colourful stitches to create Needlepoint West, a portrait in tapestry of Melbourne’s inner West.

Through the use of iconic urban/industrial imagery rendered in thread, Needlepoint West is an ode to the artist’s home turf. Contrast, colour and texture, intricacy and monotony, are key themes of this work. Photography and thread are combined to create tapestry images featuring the familiar landmarks of Melbourne’s west; Westgate Bridge, Yarraville Terminal, Altona Refinery and stacks of colourful containers. Needlepoint West subverts the domestic medium of needlepoint to explore imagery in stark contrast to the domestic, culminating in a vibrant collision of craft and industry.