Eva Cantin

I stitch by hand to tell stories, share ideas and explore themes which influence my life. Recently these have included family history and re-discovery of my immediate neighbourhood.

Reclaimed cloth and meaningful objects are my usual starting point for stitch, which I add to embellish and build structure. I include other media and techniques like eco-dyeing and printing, when I feel the subject needs them.

I make for myself, for pleasure and reflection, often starting with research before letting work develop organically.

Through Maker Membership I am building confidence in following my own meandering path. One result of this is “Replaycing” which started as explorations during Place Making with Alice Fox. I collected objects which I wrapped and cherished. These will be “re-wilded” for others to collect and treasure.

Replaycing (top and above left):
The discarded detritus of people’s lives and gifts from nature, collected and lovingly adorned before being returned for others to discover and cherish or discard…..again.

I see waste as an abuse of what we could use and value. Some see stitching as wasted time and energy, here I use it to add value to what I find.

Pockets for Replaycing (above right):
Made from my own eco-dyed fabric and natural yarns, these pockets will hold my collected objects in places where I hope they will be found.

Development process shared on myplacemaking.blogspot.com