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Illustration: Annie Taylor. Fucketyfucketyfuckfuckfuck Most textile disciplines have been around for countless generations. They have a long history of relevance and tradition, they also have a long history of being connectors of individuals, groups and communities, very often using innovation, and subversion. Embroidery is a textile discipline in particular that has had more than its fair share of relevance, continually reinventing itself within different contemporary eras, with each successive generation finding the means to reinvent, or at least add towards, the strong tradition that it has as part of its history. Illustration: Alison Fizgerald Lucas. Beaver There is always a risk that if a discipline does not reflect the contemporary generation that uses it, at least in part, then its fate could well be to become fossilised within its own history, within its own tradition. This is not to say that all practitioners have to reflect the society that they find themselves in, but as lon...

The depth of meaning and purpose is such an integral part of the role and persona of the artist, that it is hard to dismiss. It far outweighs any notion of artist as celebrity, business model, bete noir. Although critics continually sneer at the contemporary art world and everything it stands for, the sneering comes from a place of fear and insecurity. The serious artist, in whatever form, and whatever discipline, has a vital role to play in our lives, in our culture, and in our time. The fine art painter David Lasry is an individual that dwells on the subject of what it is to be human, and above all, what it is to be connected profoundly to others. We live in a world where we often talk about connections, about family, friends, community, we are linked as we never have been before, but how profound are those connections really? True, connections can be made, relationships can be formed, friendships bonded, but they take time to mature. David, in his work, symbolises the path that our ...