Saskia Wassing is an English artist, designer, and educator based in Toronto, specializing in joyful and colorful embroidered artworks. She began creating as a young child, when her mum taught her to sew and instilled in her a love of art, music, and playful imaginings. Wassing studied at Glasgow School of Art, where she specialized in embroidery and weave. During that time, she learned how to generate and develop her own ideas using drawing, which is still the foundation of her process and practice today.
“When people see my work they are often surprised to learn that it is embroidered, not a painting or drawing, but stitched. I often talk about my process because it helps in understanding how I create my work,” says Wassing. Using drawing as a method to explore, experiment and gather her ideas, she creates detailed observational sketches, color notes, and exploratory compositions, which all feed and inform her embroidered works. Referencing her drawings, Wassing stitches freely onto a fabric ground using a basic domestic sewing machine as a drawing tool.
Although she loves the process of drawing, the tactile nature of working with fabric and thread is where she finds herself the most creative and engaged. She builds up layers of fabric and thread to create the images, patterns and textures of her embroidered compositions. Through stitch, Wassing is able to express the imagined and the fanciful, grounded and informed by her experiences, memories, and observational drawings.
Being out in nature observing, absorbing, and nurturing her awe in the variety and complexity of the natural world is essential to her process. Whether in her garden drawing plants and visiting birds, out walking in the local park, or traveling further afield, Wassing finds inspiration in the colors, textures, patterns, and forms of the natural world. Birds are a special favorite–particularly the New Zealand Fantail–capturing her imagination and becoming playful characters within her work.
Soon after moving to Canada, Wassing also began teaching workshops on the techniques used in her work. Not only does teaching help support her practice, she finds sharing her skills and enthusiasm for textiles whilst engaging and encouraging others to explore their own creativity very rewarding.
Wassing was the recipient of the Murray & Marvelle Koffler Founder’s Award at the 2024 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair.
To view more of Saskia Wassing’s work, check out her Format portfolio and follow her on Instagram for work in progress.
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Current and upcoming events:
- TOAF open house and mini market: November 28th, 5-8pm at 401 Richmond, Toronto
- Christmas POP UP w/ pottery artists Thomas Aitken & Kate Hyde: November 29th & 30th at the Trinity St. Paul’s Church Center, 427 Bloor St West in Toronto.
- Junction Studio Sale with Claudine Crangle and Gregor Herman: December 7th at 3093 Dundas Street West (access only from the south end of the building, off Quebec Ave)
- Kingsway Lampton Art show & Sale 2025: April 5, 10am – 4pm
Updated event information can also be found on Wassing’s portfolio website.
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