The Women's Supper: Embroidered Tablecloth

This hand-embroidered tablecloth reimagines the familiar scene of the last supper, replaced with women from across the Old and New Testaments who have either been misrepresented as bad, or overshadowed by the better-known men in their lives.
The use of a tablecloth, itself a ubiquitous domestic item, embellished with stitch, references the legacy of female disempowerment and more recently women’s voices of protest through stitch, within a commonplace occasion associated with so-called women’s work, and likewise one where stories are often told. The table setting includes embroidered drawings of the usual paraphernalia of cutlery, crockery, and glasses. Additionally, each setting includes names cards, excerpts from the relevant bible verse and visual clues from the stories they represent, for example, Eve’s apple or Miriam’s tambourine.
This work also sits within the context of Judy Chicago’s famous Dinner Party (1979), within which she sets the table for famous women to highlight their achievements. By seating the female characters alone at my table, I also reflect their invisible legacy and empower each of them, placing then in control of their personal narratives.