Amanda McCavour
Embroiderer
Toronto, Canada
Floating landscapes in thread
- Amanda uses water-soluble fabric to create embroidered drawings in space
- She draws on natural environments to translate plant forms into large-scale installations
- Her works are featured in national and international exhibitions
Based in Toronto, Amanda McCavour treats sewing thread as a freestanding line rather than something bound to a surface. She holds a BFA in visual arts from York University in Toronto and an MFA in fibres and material studies from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. After years of experimentation, Amanda developed an embroidery technique on water-soluble fabric, allowing her to construct embroidered forms that remain intact once the base is dissolved. She merges drawing, embroidery and installation to translate gardens, prairies and plant life into suspended, translucent sculptures. "The result is often a dreamlike immersive world," she explains. Amanda's pieces have earned her multiple awards and grants, including the 2024 Craft Projects Individuals Grant from Ontario Arts Council and the 2023 Rewilding Arts Prize by David Suzuki Foundation.
Discover her work
INTERVIEW
I trained in fine art at York University, with a focus on drawing. A class redefined drawing as anything involving line. I began working with thread as a sculptural line, experimenting until I found water-soluble fabric, which allowed me to remove the ground entirely.
The residency I undertook was a bridge between school and professional practice. It gave me time, studio space and a community. I learned how to sustain a practice, apply for grants and exhibit. It remains central to how I work and think about my career.
I draw from natural environments, gardens, prairies and plant life, as well as memory and imagined spaces. My work often begins with a specific place, then shifts in scale and density to create a suspended environment rather than a direct representation.
I stitch onto water-soluble fabric using a sewing machine, building structure through crossing lines. Once complete, the fabric is dissolved in water, leaving only thread. The result is a drawing that holds itself in space, completely self-supporting.
Amanda McCavour
Embroiderer
Toronto, Canada
ADDRESS
Address upon request, Toronto, Canada
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
LANGUAGES
English
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