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- DIALOGS
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DIALOGS WITH SEÑORITA LYLO
SRTA. LYLO'S ATELLIER
Her love for embroidery is evident in every stitch. Loly Ghirardi, graphic designer by trade, uses her talent to create works of art that are not just visually stunning, but also serve to tell stories. Experienced in multiple embroidery techniques, Loly employs different tools, elements, colors and textures to bring her ideas to life and imbue each piece with her personal touch.
In our interview, Loly shares her creative process and she captures her vision in each piece she creates.
LOLY EMBROIDERY MATERIALS
How did the Señorita Lylo project come about? What made you fall in love with embroidery?
The Srta. Lylo project came about without any conscious effort. It started about ten years ago, when I was trying really hard to get pregnant but, after quite a few attempts, found out I wouldn’t be able to naturally and would need to undergo treatment. Faced with all that frustration, I started taking all kinds of classes to soothe my anxiety. I always looked for workshops that allowed me to learn and develop manual skills because I spent all day seated in front of the computer. I’m a graphic designer and have always been very creative and curious.
Motherhood never happened for me, but during that time I discovered something new: embroidery. I started taking all the classes available to me, I was like a sponge absorbing all the knowledge. I began to learn different techniques and started making different kinds of pieces. And then I was given the opportunity to participate in Agustina Guerrero’s book “Diario de una volátil”, and I contributed with a two-page embroidery piece. That was the launch pad for me to get my name out there and everything to start, and with it, Srta. Lylo. Learning to embroider helped me develop patience and be at peace with life. When I sit down with my needles and thread and start a new hoop, everything calms down. I focus in on that exact moment, the sound of the needle piercing the fabric, my fingers caressing the stitches as they come together. I always say that my embroidery pieces are the sum, a collection of my minutes, hours, and days translated into single, unique pieces. And that is what I love about embroidery.
LOLY'S EMBRODERY PROJECTS WITH DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
HYDRAULIC TILE RECREATED WITH THE PUNCH NEEDLE TECHNIQUE
What stage in the process of creating an embroidery piece do you enjoy most? What inspires your work?
I enjoy the entire embroidery process because each stage has something interesting about it. When looking for inspiration, I’m like a young child that is attracted to the simplest of things. But I’m also a restless person, so I always have my antenna on the alert to find something that attracts my interest. What is key is finding the story behind it, a concept that I know I can share or tell through my embroidery. Once I find it, the other part is figuring out how to synthesize the image, what stitches to use, what kind of thread, and what color palette to work with.
It may sound cliché, but I truly find inspiration in everything around me. That everyday aspect can be seen in many of my projects. Using the punch needle technique I was able to recreate the hydraulic tiles in my house, I used photo transfer to interpose the photo of my grandparents’ wedding, and with stumpwork I recreated a picture of a plant with massive leaves from my trip to Bali.
EMBROIDERY PROCESS WITH THE STUMPWORK TECHNIQUE
Embroidery, with techniques like darning and needlepoint... has become a tool to stand up to mass fashion consumption. What do you think about the fact that there is an increasing trend towards recovering these traditions?
I think embroidery is more current than ever. It is experiencing a very interesting revival and has luckily shed its image of being a woman’s activity to be done at home. There is also a historical revisionism that is recovering the stories of women embroiderers from other eras that is showing us how embroidery has been used throughout history to communicate different messages, like suffragettes who embroidered their signs or embroidered handkerchiefs with advice passed from one woman to another.
I’m a big fan of embellishing my clothes with embroidery, it makes them unique and one-of-a-kind. I’ve embroidered shoes and jackets and I mend worn out jeans with visible mending. Embroidery offers infinite possibilities; the fact that it is gaining visibility once again and is trendy is wonderful.
PIECE WITH PHOTO TRANSFER AND EMBROIDERY TECHNIQUE
Do you think that because it is a technique that requires time, effort and skill it is becoming an act of resistance against mass production and throwaway culture?
Yes, embroidery is an act of resistance. Today everything is fast, breakneck, and now, now, now. When I sit down to embroider, time doesn’t matter and passes in a different manner. Even my breathing slows down and ideas flow in and out. It helped me work through a very significant period of stress and overwhelm in my life. Embroidery is also a kind of therapy. It is a revolutionary act even though it inspires silence and calm, and though it is often a solitary activity performed in the home, it has the power to transmit messages far and wide.
FRAGMENT OF THE BOOK THAT LOLY IS CREATING WITH LUMEN EDITORIAL
The educational component is essential to the Señorita Lylo project. Do you have any classes or workshops coming up?
In 2016 I was the first person to offer an online embroidery class on the newly debuted “Craft” section of Domestika. That gave rise to more classes and now I have four embroidery classes of different levels on the platform. I also teach in-person classes in Barcelona at the Duduá space. Every once in a while I visit other cities with my needles and thread and teach embroidery there as well.
A very significant piece of news that is very special to me is that I am currently writing and embroidering my first personal book with support from the publishing house Lumen (that’s right, none other!) It’s been a lot of work these past few months. I don't have a definitive publication date, but sometime in the second half of the year. Writing and embroidering this book is a journey through my past, my innermost experiences, and my beginnings in embroidery.
If you want to join the embroidery revolution, take a look at our capsule collection of embroidered espadrilles.
