Elnaz Yazdani (Growing Colour Together)
Elnaz Yazdani is an embroidery artist and educator based in Yorkshire and is dedicated to sharing her textile skills and promoting the importance of embroidery as an art form for the future and for community wellbeing.
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lnaz has taught embroidery throughout her community, within primary, secondary and higher education as well as community groups and organisations.
In 2020 Elnaz was commended for the teaching excellence award in embroidery via the Embroiderers Guild and became an Embroiderers Guild Scholar after the successful launch of her virtual embroidery school ‘Embroider Your Future’.
Her practice explores ways of transforming traditional embroidery techniques through her choice of unusual materials; she is inspired by industrial, upcycled materials and the ways in which she can embellish, connect or transform these items through stitch to develop a surface or form. Her unique embroidery style has allowed her to work across fashion, jewellery and installation contexts since graduating from Manchester School of Art in 2014.
Elnaz is available for workshops, talks, embroidery and jewellery commissions, exhibitions and collaborative projects.
Growing Colour Together is a project by WOVEN in Kirklees that we’re delighted to be supporting through artist mentorship and promotion.
This WOVEN in Kirklees 2023 project aims to create a district-wide, natural dye, colour garden. Everyone from Kirklees is invited to get involved, helping to create dye gardens anywhere and everywhere, working with six local and international artists commissioned to create events, installations and more for 2023.
Working in partnership across the district, WOVEN is giving everyone the opportunity to ‘have a grow’, use what’s grown to make natural dyes and learn about the environmental implications of chemical dyes and what we buy. A natural dye garden gives eco-friendly, natural dye pigments and stains for textiles, knitting yarns, and even artist paints and prints. We spoke to the artists involved…
What’s your involvement in the Growing Colour Together project?
I was the Growing Colour Together project manager for WOVEN in Kirklees festival 2023, I have been involved with the Growing Colour Together project as an embroidery artist since 2021 when I created a textile dye and art garden in Huddersfield and a series of dried flower ‘Embroider from Nature’ artworks.
I then went onto be a project manager in 2022 managing an artist in residency group of 7 artists and a community textile commission in three areas of Kirklees.
Why do you create?
I create embroidery art because it brings people joy and important life skills that last forever. Stitching provides therapeutic benefits, supports fine motor skill development and encourages people to think differently about how and what they can use stitch for. Embroidery has the power to connect, embellish and transform people’s lives and fabrics.
Do you consider yourself to be part of an artist network/community, and if so, how does this impact your practice?
Yes, I am a part of the Stitching Together research network and the Growing Colour Together artist network. I also work alongside a wonderful group of artists at the CIC Stitch_Up where I run all my weekly community embroidery groups. Being a part of a network is so important when you work as a freelance artist. You share ideas, encourage, and motivate one another to expand and grow projects. I set up the Growing Colour Together network to help make connections with the artists and communities involved in the project. Being a part of the Stitching Together network helps expand my knowledge base and awareness of working with embroidery as a practice in the community.
What changes would you like to see in the arts sector?
I would like to see more opportunities for young people in embroidery particularly for GCSE, A Level and college students. In the last 7 years I have seen the gradual demise of textile education at this level and at higher education level. I would like to see more investment and funding into embroidery as a craft practice and art form for the future.
Elnaz’s links: