‘The ways of our elders’, oil and cross stitch on linen

Our latest exhibition, Townscape, features work by local group, Example, taking inspiration from an object in the museum.

In this post, we look at Sheri Gee’s choice, the cross-stitch sampler sewn by a ten year old girl from Baldwins Hill School in 1878. Sheri Gee’s interest was piqued by the seeming loss of these traditional needlecraft skills amongst school children today. Needlework was the mainstay of female education for centuries. For some years skills of this nature fell from fashion, no doubt encouraged by modern technology and consumerism. Cross-stitch is however experiencing a renaissance. Gee felt inspired to look at how modern artists use this age-old skill to create avant-garde patterns, often referencing modern culture. Gee’s beautifully conceived works combine traditional methods and materials in less than traditional ways, from oil on canvas to oil and cross-stitch on linen . There is a serenity and absorbed stillness to Gee’s works. The figure of a girl working on a cross-stitch design, a current student of Baldwins Hill School, forms the basis of this evocative project, which links past and present to great effect.