South African textile artist Amita Makan is “drawn to the history, politics, personal stories and culture threaded in textiles.” Beginning with the concept of creating ‘something from something,’ her ethereal hand embroideries and studies of fabric and stitch explore environmental, social and political challenges. 

Firstly where did you grow up and where do you live now? 

I was born in South End, Port Elizabeth in South Africa. I lived in Geneva, Switzerland for over 8 years, and I currently reside in Pretoria, South Africa.

What is your background in textiles?

I have been immersed in textiles and embroidery all my life. I grew up in a home and community surrounded by beautiful fabrics and saris. As I pursued my work in art, I gradually awoke to my ‘ancestral stitch’. I was taught to embroider in school, and pursued embroidering in 2008 at a class with a group of women at a haberdashery in Pretoria. I have been embroidering and working on fabric assemblage for twelve years.  I have two years of formal art training at the Rhodes University where I obtained a MA degree in International Studies. I studied Fine Art for one year at the University of Pretoria.

What is it about textiles as an art form that appeals to you? 

I am drawn to the history, politics, personal stories and culture threaded in textiles. As a medium, it is both fragile and powerful, and has extraordinary potential for metamorphosis in the art making process. 

What techniques do you use?

I use hand embroidery and the large-scale fabric assemblage works are also hand stitched.  

How do you describe your work?

The notion of ‘something from something’ resonates with my art making process. The curator, Ann Coxon, in her essay ‘Making Something from Something: Towards a Re-definition of Women’s Textile Art’ looks to the women who redefined the parameters of fine art by making art using their stories and unconventional ‘soft’ mediums that inhabited their domestic world. Making ‘something from something’ alludes to the process of adding to and building on that which already exists. In my hands, ‘something from something’ starts with the stitch I inherited from my cobbler Indian ancestors and which, now, evolves.

‘Something from something’ references the saris that belonged to my late mother. Her woven, silken and tie and dye saris are the creations of master craftsmen, while delicate hands of poor, skilful Indian women and children fabricated the beaded and embroidered chiffons. 

These precious, perishing saris with their delicate motifs and patterns that draw on nature and Hindu mythology are respectfully cut out, salvaged and reimagined to tell new and contemporary stories. My mother’s opulent saris evoke a complex and layered interplay of personal memories, South African history, culture and globalization. Woven into my art are African and Indian mythological tales, Buddhist teachings and the South African archive. Imbued with magical and transformative powers, the saris continually renew and reveal themselves. 

The saris are a textile archive of a South Africa under apartheid. These saris were once witness to a time when the close-knit, mixed race seaside community of South End in Port Elizabeth was torn apart by laws that forcibly separated people from each other. The community, my family included, were racially classified and re-located to barren, far-flung areas. 

The material and tangible ‘something from something’ incorporate mass-produced and alluring plastic coated shiny beads, new and vintage sequins, synthetic fabrics and ribbons. ‘Something from something’ includes salvaged remnants of daily living, recycled, non-degradable nylon packaging materials and polystyrene. These are undone and are reintroduced into my embroideries alongside silk, viscose, synthetic metallic and surgical threads. 

I choose silk sheer organza and tulle to create a dialogue between the stitch, knots and loose threads in the front and reverse of the artwork. The reverse can be exhibited as it declares the process of hand stitching. 

All the materials combine to reference urgent social, political and environmental challenges. In the breast cancer series, Mastectomy/Hem, 2015, my mother’s mastectomy is revisited. A splice on cotton fabric is sutured with surgical thread. The mastectomy scar, the well-worn secret that is worn like a hem, is laid bare. 

Climate change and drought in southern Africa threaten our indigenous, rare Fynbos plant kingdom, butterflies and the majestic baobabs. The artwork, Sunyata I – The Full Void, 2014 is an ode to the already extinct flowers of the Fynbos floral kingdom. In Memorial to Fynbos, 2020, I embroider the names of the extinct or endangered Fynbos flowers with recycled nylon packaging threads on polyester tulle. This is a way to encourage mindfulness of our footprint on the earth as we consume and discard with abandon. 

In My Black President (After Sally Shorkend), 2014 and Phatha Phatha: For Miriam Makeba and Dorothy Masuku, 2014 I draw on my ancestral stitch and motives from my mothers saris to pay tribute to these courageous women singers, Brenda Fassie, Miriam Makeba and Dorothy Masuku who used their voices and lyrics to unite the world against Apartheid.

How do you create a piece?

The initial impetus is an image in my mind’s eye that guides me until it fully reveals itself.

I know this is a hard question but how long does a bigger piece take?

The time for each work varies. It depends on the size and the amount of stitching required. My first embroidery, the portrait ‘Loose Ends: The Story about My Mother’ took eight hours a day over eight months to complete. Most works take around three months to complete. The Nigerian Nobel Prize Laureate, Wole Soyinka, describes his writing as a series of rituals and processes. Writing, he says, “… has its own creative rhythm, you can’t force it. It has to gestate for a while and then it’s ready to burst forth.” This description captures the way I make art. 

What are you most proud of in your art career so far?

I have had wonderful opportunities for which I am deeply grateful. In 2009, I was awarded runner up in the New Signatures National Art Competition in South Africa. This was for a hand-embroidered portrait of my mother who was at an advanced stage of Alzheimers disease.  

In 2014, I had a solo show entitled,  “Nomalungelo: Threads to Freedom” at the Constitution Hill Museum in Johannesburg. Constitution Hill is a sacred space in the South African story, the former prison that incarcerated many of our Anti-apartheid leaders, is now the seat of our Constitutional democracy. My embroidered series there was a tribute to the women who made enormous personal sacrifices for our freedom.

I had a solo art exhibition at the Rosa Turetsky Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland in 2016. In 2018, I exhibited at the Dakar Biennale, Senegal. Later that year, I was part of a group exhibition, Aqua Happenings curated by Adelina von Furstenberg’s UN-affiliated Art For the World, in Italy.

Do you have any advice for aspiring textile artists?

Keep at your practice. Allow your instinct to lead you, be patient and allow for your embroidery to evolve.  

Embroidery is a liberating art form. Pioneering women textile artists have empowered women to use embroidery in whichever way they choose. The humble needle and thread, previously controlled by social norms and conventions, generally confined to the domestic realm, are now being used in unconventional ways to reclaim women’s bodies, their interior worlds, and embroider their stories. The needle is an instrument to unite women in our common struggles. 

Where can people purchase or see your work? 

I may be contacted directly to discuss my artworks. My works can be viewed on the South African artist website called Art.co.za https://www.art.co.za/amitamakan/

Is there anything you would like to add?

At present, I am looking forward to an upcoming solo show entitled “Āvāhana – Invocation” about some of the devastating impacts of climate change in Southern Africa. The exhibition is expected to travel to a few museums and institutions across South Africa. Much depends on the duration and evolution of the pandemic. 

amitamakan19@gmail.com