Grace Le
Mixed media installation, wire, felt, thread and beads
Exposure (2026) (front)
Suspended between growth and decay, my work echoes the visuals of mould and bacteria to engage with ideas of ephemerality and the parallel feelings of attraction and repulsion. The installation is composed of multiple needle-felted, hand embroidered and beaded sculptures. They embody a simultaneous weightless yet intrusive presence. Hovering in a state of becoming, the work links the past and present in its confrontation with and resistance to inevitable change. By immortalising decay in textile forms, I provoke questions about permanence and portray how the unwanted may be preserved over the comfortable and desired, despite our objections.
Reflecting naturally occurring aesthetics of bacteria and mould through the handmade, the embroidered elements glamourise what is typically regarded as disgusting and unwanted. Needle felting was chosen to create a fuzzy texture with shifting shades of blue, green, grey and purple to evoke a range of feelings within the viewer, from discomfort and aversion to curiosity. The time-consuming and intricate process of embellishing to create idealised versions of mould clusters that grow over the forms emphasise how beauty can be found in the grotesque, and how confrontation with discomfort can lead to levity and acceptance.
Reflecting naturally occurring aesthetics of bacteria and mould through the handmade, the embroidered elements glamourise what is typically regarded as disgusting and unwanted. Needle felting was chosen to create a fuzzy texture with shifting shades of blue, green, grey and purple to evoke a range of feelings within the viewer, from discomfort and aversion to curiosity. The time-consuming and intricate process of embellishing to create idealised versions of mould clusters that grow over the forms emphasise how beauty can be found in the grotesque, and how confrontation with discomfort can lead to levity and acceptance.