Hand embroidery and appliqué on silk base, silk threads, 2020
I began to think about black-and-white collages earlier, and this work was in my first series.
I was interested in how lines and forms interact with each other in a limited colour range and how cultural or human-made objects appear meaningfully.
I created a dream-like situation with symbols from the natural world, such as birds and a partly hidden human face.
I enjoyed working on a silk surface, on which the cut-out forms, lines, and dense embroidery parts are highlighted.
I finished the work as a three-layer silk object, hung on the wall with a metal rod.
Anna Torma was born in Hungary in 1952. She graduated from MOMA Budapest in 1979, producing hand-embroidered wall hangings, drawings, prints, and collages. She immigrated to Canada in 1988 and lives in Baie Verte, New Brunswick. Torma’s works tell tales about the natural world and human culture, portraying the Anthropocene age with playful colours and lines on the textile surface. Her work has been in international exhibitions and is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Craft and Design New York, Global Affairs Canada, Owens Art Gallery, and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design. It has been reviewed in Bordercrossings Magazine, Artforum, Hyperallergic, and Canadian Art and published in Permanent Danger. Her solo exhibition at the Textile Museum of Canada was accompanied by a catalogue. Torma is the recipient of the 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.