Textile Artist Lora Avedian On Her Botanical Inspired Embroidery And Decorations
Contributions From LORA AVEDIAN
Lora Avedian is a Textile Artist & Designer based in London, who uses flowers and other aspects of nature as a source of inspiration. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2017 and has since worked with the V&A, the Barbican Centre and The Royal Academy. In 2021, she published her first book about hand embroidery, titled ‘Stitch in Bloom’.
Known for her stunning embroidery which often incorporates inspiration from various types of flowers, Lora Avedian is a Textile Artist and Designer based in London.
After publishing her own book ‘Stitch In Bloom’ in 2021, it is clear that nature has woven its way into her work, and with her upcoming workshops taking place at Kew Gardens, that doesn’t look as though it’s about to change anytime soon.
Join Lora as she shares more about her book, why she incorporates nature into her textiles and how she uses colours from around her to curate her designs below.
Please note that the imagery in this article is provided courtesy of Fergus Franks, Suzie Howell and Aloha Bonser-Shaw.
Can you share about the experiences in your early life that inspired you to pursue a career in mixed media textiles and art?
“My mother was the person who introduced me to textiles as art, and I remember her showing me how to do free-motion embroidery on her domestic machine as a young teenager,” Lora begins.
“I also went to school with someone whose mum is a Textile Designer, so I used to spend summers in her studio helping out. That really inspired my career path.
“I remember going to an exhibition of Louise Bourgeois’ work at the Tate Modern as a child and I really remember how much I loved the tactility of the textiles she uses in her work – I had never seen cloth used in that way.”
Why did you start to use botanical elements in your work?
“I absolutely love all kinds of plants, particularly flowers,” she shares.
“I think the first thing I ever hand-embroidered was a rose on a scrap of fabric during my GCSEs. Between my BA and MA I was working as a set designer and prop maker for still life photoshoots.
“I always had little samples of embroidery I was making on the side and really started getting into making paper flowers as part of my set design work. When I did my MA, I wanted to combine these paper representations of nature with the sampling I had been doing, and that was where I started developing my ideas with botanical themes.”
Can you share a little about your book, ‘Stitch in Bloom’?
“My book is all about a hand embroidery technique that I like to use called ‘couching’.
“It’s really a book that is dedicated to that stitch and how you can use it with so many different materials to create quite different effects each time. I try to encourage the reader to be experimental with their approach to the stitch and to the materials they use.
“I did the book in the 2020 lockdown and I was walking in local nature a lot, so the designs for each project are all based on simple and recognisable floral patterns from plants that I saw on my daily walks.”
How do flowers and other elements of nature serve as a source of inspiration in your work, and how do you integrate them into your designs?
“I just find flowers to be endlessly fascinating,” muses Lora.
“I often take pictures of flowers from different angles on my phone and try to capture the natural composition of the buds and leaves. There is always a new flower that I haven’t seen before, so I feel like I could go on forever using nature as a source of inspiration.”
How does working with nature-inspired themes influence your thoughts and practices regarding sustainability in your art?
“I think just being out in nature when I am finding inspiration for my work means I am always observing our ecosystem at work. I find nature to be pretty magical and observing nature makes me think about how it benefits so much of our lives, and how much I want to protect it.
“I have a compost heap in my garden and when I empty it and see what’s broken down and what has been left behind, I think about what will happen to my work when it’s no longer wanted, so I work with natural fibres in almost all the elements of the work I produce.
“I am working towards getting all of the elements I work with to be biodegradable. I also try to be very conscious of where I source my materials from, working with companies that in some way are lowering their carbon footprint.
“It’s important to me to work with British or at least European producers, and people who are consciously producing the material in ways that have a lower impact on the environment.”
How do you approach the vibrant colours and varied textures found in nature, especially in flowers, when working on your pieces?
“I love the fascination we have as humans to try and recreate nature in different materials,” says Lora.
“That is something that has always fascinated me and has carried through my work in lots of different ways. I enjoy the challenge of trying to find the best qualities and colours of material to represent how I see nature.
“For example, trying to find the best leaf materials or thread colours, and thinking about how to recreate the textures in nature in my own way. Sometimes I dye my own fabrics.
“I am quite particular about colours and the quality of material, so it can sometimes be a challenge for me to find the right colour for a project. I often work with materials I have sourced second-hand which gives everything a slightly faded but vibrant palette, like a hand-painted black-and-white photo.”
What are some challenges you face when incorporating natural elements into your work, and how do you navigate them?
“I think the biggest challenge is to make the work original, because so many people use nature as inspiration, so it’s hard to stand out,” she explains.
“I think that the materials and colours I use seem to make my work feel more original, but another challenge is making the work stand out on digital formats and on tiny screens, when my work is so detailed and tactile.
“It’s a constant work in progress, and as a designer, I have to adapt to these things but try not to let them dictate what I make.”
How do you see your relationship with floral and natural themes evolving in your future work?
“I would like to look at nature in connection with my Armenian heritage and go and do some research there to get some more inspiration.
“I hope this will help me develop ideas I have around memory and legacy I worked on during my MA, so not just working with themes of nature, but combining them with some more abstract and figurative ideas. Watch this space!”
What are your future plans and are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that you are particularly excited about?
“I am working on a new tableware collection that is being launched at a pop-up shop I am running in March 2024 at Pentreath & Hall over two weeks,” shares Lora.
“I am also about to launch some new botanical-themed brass decorations, which should be coming in early November. Next year I have lots of in-person workshops, including one at Kew Gardens, which I am really excited about.”
