Lucia Dohrmann — '48 Overlapping Circles - Weft', Textile Artwork, 2025

Dohrmann’s practice centres on the connections between pattern and repetition, textile techniques, pattern making and mathematics. Her chosen ground is painters' canvas, a pliable woven textile, which she deconstructs and reassembles. The processes undertaken challenge the idea that canvas acts simply as a ground or support for a painting.

Dohrmann’s love of textile processes comes from early childhood experiences when her mother, a dressmaker, taught her to sew, knit and crochet from a young age. The pattern in this series is a geometric interpretation of circular crocheted doilies, which belonged to her mother, reflecting the mathematical thinking needed to make many domestic textiles. Many of these items along with textile knowledge were brought to Australia through migration, carrying with them emotional and intergenerational connections. 
 
The colour red has had a long association with protection against enemies, witchcraft and evil spirits, in Italian folklore. Red thread was traditionally used by young Italian women to stitch their initials onto linens in preparation for marriage.