Holly Searle AKA The Subversive Stitcher has been always been making something since she was a child. She comes from a family of creators and creatives and as a restless dyslexic child her mother showed her how to thread a needle and embroider and away she went.

 

Dismissed as educationally lacking, she created her first embroidered sampler in Miss Swan’s needlework class in secondary school. This was highly regarded by the academic who had dismissed her literary abilities.

 

As an adult, her life was grey and full of responsibilities, which suppressed her creativity.

 

Then, latter in life, she attended an exhibition at The Wellcome Collection and saw an embroidered sampler that had been created to raise awareness of a social injustice. This moved her to tears.

 

Thereafter, she threaded her needle again and hasn’t stopped sewing subversively since.

 

She was awarded first place in the first exhibition she submitted a piece to, which was to have her own solo show. 

 

Since then she has had her work featured in numerous group exhibitions, various publications, and has been commissioned to create individual items for an interior design project. Her defaced bank notes were included in The Cash Is King exhibition at The Saatchi Gallery. 

 

 She uses her work to raise awareness of issues that she feels need soapboxing. These encompass themes such as feminism, environmental issues, politics and celebrity and popular culture. She created The Subversive Vintage Tea Towel Series by repurposing old tea towels by subverting their initial context with humorous over sewn wording that highlight various issues. She is passionate about having a voice and using it. She has a degree in Film and Television and a past.