About the event

Speaker: Dr Carolyn Wargula

Chair: Dr Halle O’Neal

Abstract

How did needlework engage audiences differently by transforming recognisable painted Buddhist images into textured surfaces? This talk addresses this question by discussing the practice of hair and silk embroidery that emerged in twelfth-century Japan. By weaving together analyses of neglected textiles, this talk tells a new story of the affective, aesthetic and religious life of premodern Japan: one where fabrics gave material presence to mourning, needlework enacted Buddhist enlightenment, and vibrant threads resuscitated the presence of female saints like Chūjōhime.

Biography

Carolyn Wargula is Assistant Professor of Art History at Bucknell University, where she teaches classes on East Asian art. Previously, she was a postdoctoral associate in the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University. She is currently working on her monograph entitled Embodied Embroideries: Gender, Materiality, and the Body in Japanese Buddhism.

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This lecture will be online.