Sarah Graham
Using a scrap of recycled denim, this embroidery hoop depicts a highway intersection to explore urban mapping. The stitching illustrates the practice of highway and railway construction which frequently rips apart and makes bumpy pre-existing communities- disproportionally low-income, minority neighbourhoods. Despite the daily commute on smooth roads, infrastructure overlays a far more complex and bumpy everyday experience of neighbourhoods flattened, disappeared, and divided.
The flat and smooth texture of the beige road suggests the seamless passing through of intersections. Meanwhile the raised, bumpy knots illustrate the unaccounted disruption experienced by individuals and communities split apart. Continuing the multi-layered effects, the underside of the stitching further illustrates the interconnections and networks unnoticed by those passing through the intersection. This creative form both visually and texturally highlights mapping of “public” spaces which concurrently develop and disrupt neighbourhoods.
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