SUSIE CHAIKIN - Embroiderer and Mosaic Artist

My art is my story. It’s the way I work out and express my world.

My latest work has come about from processing the grief around my husband’s heart attack and a friend’s death from lung cancer. I stitched the organs the heart and the lungs. In the making I have found I can create ease and peace. Stitching beauty and thought into harsh moments. I find stitching meditative and slow and naturally supports a healing conversation with myself. I try and make beautiful pieces, So transforming my experience and perspective. I am now curious and exploring how as an artist I might be able to do this for and with others.

I am obsessed with Latin culture I see myself as creating milgros, the word milagro means “miracle or “surprise” in Spanish and people in the past and present use them as symbols to wish others good luck good health and hope for the future.

https://susiechaikin.com/
@susiechaikin

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My daughters.

In terms of my work it is my last body of work on grief. I had a vision for it as a whole body and it took me 3 years to complete. I was so moved by how my threads of expression and intention meet the hearts of others. I felt the meeting of all I held valuable, art, making, integrity and love.

What motivates you to do what you do?

It is like breathing to me or like eating, if I do not do it I feel great dis-ease. It is my way of processing my world, making can transform something I’m finding difficult, from something harsh and ugly to peace and beauty. It has felt like I had discovered a magic power. I notice how my current work is touching in a deep way to others and That motivates me even more! The history of stitch is fascinating and has been quite political I’m very motived to create messages with stitch.

What do you owe your mother?

My mother is an extraordinary woman. She is strong determined capable and has strong family values. she stitched a lot when I was young. The singer sewing machine was always out. She is culturally very curious we visited a lot of galleries and travelled up to London to the big galleries often. And she was a strong socialist I love being a socialist a lot of my current work is influenced by politics.

Which women inspire you and why?

I am drawn to woman that have their warrior and feminine power perfectly balanced, I see this a lot in daughters of my friends. Passionate driven, strong, responsible, educated and full hearted. they are who I admire as they will shape this world beautifully, the balance of love and knowing their agency their power.

What am I reading?

I rarely read fiction these days, I’m a maker so all my sitting time is spent making so I listen to audible. I love the sound of the words in my ears. If I go back over a piece of art work I can recall almost word for word what I was listening to its extraordinary as My memory is mostly silent. I have just finished where the crawdads sing, and reading threads of life by Clare hunter, I reread and listen to this all the time I’m so thrilled and moved by the stories of stitch.

What gender barriers have you had to hurdle?

My main gender barrier is how I have adopted my role of wife and mother. They have come before my artist, a slave to the gender belief that everyone comes before me! But I have loved having both these roles in my life too but if I re did them I would been more bold of the balance.

The gender barrier in the art world is, And as an embroiderer and someone who sits on the craft art border the gender barriers are loud, but they are shifting with embroidery there are some incredible contemporary stitchers, and it is seeing a renaissance in the art world.

How could the world be made a better place for women?

I think about this a lot, I have just made a huge piece about it it called the rise of femininity , I believe that the world has lacked heart and feminine for a long time and been lead by bullying, greedy, self serving warriors. The heart has dropped out of the world and I believe That we need to rise the temperature of the feminine.

Describe your perfect day

My perfect day is a sunshine day in Cornwall a day where I pack my beautiful old campervan with tea, milk and a full fridge, park up by the sea and set up as a studio for the day stitching, with my two daughters , our dog , picnicking, swimming in the sea and friends or family popping by. I feel so so blessed and the luckiest person alive on those days ... oh and kissing and laughing !!