Su Embroidery is famous for its beautiful designs, varied stitches, superb workmanship and elegant colors. Displayed as decorative wall hangings, Su embroidery is sustained through formal training programs and commercial industry.
Su Embroidery is named for Suzhou, the centre of the country’s silk trade and famous for its Venice-like canal system and classical gardens. With its dense, fine needlework and idyllic landscape depictions, this form is a source of local identity and pride—even as Suzhou has developed into one of the country’s largest industrial cities and a centre for high-tech manufacturing. Working with dyed silk thread split into extremely fine strands, embroiderers create images so finely detailed that they resemble paintings.
Learn more about Chinese embroidery at the Artist Talk on July 12 at 6pm.
PRICES
Everyone: FREE
Saturday, July 12, 2014
12:00PM – 8:00PM
North Exhibition Common
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto Ontario
Sunday, July 13, 2014
12:00PM – 6:00PM
North Exhibition Common
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto Ontario
Cai Meiying 蔡梅英
Cai Meiying learned embroidery at a young age from women at her family. She trained formally at the Suzhou Embroidery Research Center under master Wang Zhuzhi, and has been practicing this craft for more than 30 years. Her embroidery incorporates coloring from modern painting art, as well as Chinese classic embroidery techniques. She uses a special technique to dye the threads, which are made of silk. She has been featured in many national and local television programs, and plays an active role in training new generations of Suzhou embroiderers in Jiangsu Province.