Bianca Hodselle
Embroiderer
Florence, Italy
Painting dreams with coloured threads
- Bianca’s embroidery is three-dimensional and tactile
- Painting techniques mingle with traditional needlework in her creations
- She upcycles by giving new life to vintage clothes
Bianca Hodselle's painted embroideries stand out for the techniques employed and the subjects of her creations. Rooted in tradition, her embroidered paintings are charged with oneiric symbolism. “I was born in Naples,” she explains, “and my city, with its colours, scents and legends, has always been a major source of inspiration.” Creative since childhood and determined to devote her life to art, Bianca studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts until one day she stumbled on her old embroidery box, with the cotton skeins and sewing tools she used as a teenager. “It was a revelation! I started embroidering again, this time infusing the technique with the creativity I had acquired over the years. As if by magic, my contemporary creations began to emerge, and I have not stopped since.”
INTERVIEW
At first, it was to attend a Master’s course in traditional weaving organised by the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and the Fondazione Arte della Seta Lisio. I was then hired as a designer in Gucci’s embroidery atelier, where I worked until 2023.
I felt the need to create with my own hands and also slow down the pace of my life. I left the fascinating world of fashion to start my own full-time business, where I can express myself in both the making and the design of my creations.
The fact that it is very creative and that it requires meticulousness and technique. While I embroider and paint, I manage to detach myself from reality and meditate on my dreams, which are one of my primary sources of inspiration.
My approach is influenced by artists such as Miriam Schapiro (1923 -2015), who challenged the distinction between 'major' and 'minor' arts. I also believe that craftsmanship can help us overcome gender stereotypes that still persist, to varying degrees, in our society.
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