Cecilia Charlton

Weaver | London, United Kingdom

A fascination for patterns

Cecilia weaves, embroiders and paints
She is an American artist based in London
She specialises in the Bargello technique

The theme of Cecilia Charlton’s journey towards weaving and embroidery has been 'discovery'. In the early part of her life, she was guided towards engineering school, but almost immediately dropped out to spend years travelling, pursuing jewellery making and learning the craft of pottery. After this period, she studied painting at university in New York. While studying, she discovered a passion for repetitive patterns on a trip to Italy, admiring ancient mosaics. This is where she came across the Bargello embroidery technique and immediately felt attracted to it. It is a stitching technique that is made to create intricate patterns, which is the heart of Cecilia's current work.

Interview

©Artiq

What is the Bargello embroidery technique?: What distinguishes the Bargello technique is that in contrast to embroidery techniques like cross stitch, the stitches in Bargello are always vertical. It is down to the use of colour and the way you can group stitches together.
How did you discover your technique?: I was at a coffee shop and there was a book about Bargello embroidery. I have found that oftentimes with textile practices, you can teach yourself new techniques if you know other techniques. Like a musician who can play many instruments, can also easily pick up a new instrument.
What is your mindset when you are creating?: I am interested in how practising craft can be a conduit for transcendence. My work is repetitive and cyclical. It is a nice middle zone between having to focus very hard and then not focusing. Like meditation, it is not always relaxing and not always pleasant.
What do you love about your work?: I used to spend a lot of time scuba diving, which is strangely similar to my embroidery practice. Being underwater, floating in this medium, all you hear is your breath. Everything is set up for you to reach this meditative state and I have found that experience in embroidery as well.

Cecilia Charlton is a master artisan: she began her career in 2012 and she started teaching in 2018