“You get the text, the message…the buzz… inconsequential, but also validating, maybe even invigorating…a minuscule dopamine hit of happiness.  

Created out of a need to find humour and irony in the tumult of this era, Kate Lewis has captured these modern, digital flashes in analog cross-stitch, so they may continue to bring joy long after the digital buzz has faded. 

A literal twist on the way information is communicated and the world we currently live in—these works take the intimate personalisation of corporate messaging and turn it upside-down. Reflecting on Lewis’ background in textile design, these hand-made works—raffia cross-stitched on perforated paper—pay homage to the sampler, which was historically sewn by women as a distinctive reference work.  Fleeting messages have been turned into pithy conversation pieces.  Cheeky double (and triple) meanings make the universal personal.

 Textiles have historically been used to tell the stories of our times—EMBELLISHED NOTIFICATIONS continue the tradition of subversive female rebellion.”

-Sloane Warren

Ten works will be on show at Peggy Mercury, Connecticut, USA from 17 May-22 June 2025.

Embellished Notifications by Kate Lewis

Raffia hand stitched on perforated paper 

Works are 33.5 x 41.5cm / 13 x 16.25 inches (this is the unframed measurement)

Signed and dated on the front in pencil.