Partner Adam Pollock, Neal Blewett
Queer Places:
Musica nel Chiostro, 58100 Batignano, Province of Grosseto
Robert Brain
(born 1933) was born in Tasmania and studied history there and anthropology in London. He has lectured in both English and Italian universities, and worked and studied in the Congo Republic, Cameroun and Mali. He has written a dozen books, including Friends and Lovers (a novel) and The Decorated Body, and translated many works, including the Maigret series (by Belgian writer, Georges Simenon).
Robert lived in Italy for many years, where he and his then partner,
Adam Pollock, restored a sixteenth century Augustine monastery, which became the venue for a summer opera festival, Musica nel Chiostro. He now lives in Australia, in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, with partner Neal Blewett, and spends most of his time making tapestries, many of which are based on his varied life experiences.
Robert has recently authored The Life and Tapestries of Robert Brain, which offers a fascinating and humorous glimpse into his life story, as well as showcasing a wide and contrasting selection of his unique tapestries.
Robert has made dozens of tapestries using an embroidery running stitch, and does not embroider by numbers or with shop patterns. Starting with a straightforward geometric design, he works the canvas according to a pre-ordained conception. More complex designs are sewn onto the canvas using the needle as a pencil. Only extremely intricate sections of a canvas need the technique of a muralist, where the original is transferred, again with needle and thread, from a small grid on paper to the larger canvas.
Robert developed his tapestry themes by first having a vague conception of what he wanted to create and then by building up the whole tapestry gradually, in order to avoid the tiring, blinding counting of stitches using a commercial design. In this way, embroidery’s glum reputation can be removed from the world of fussy, old maids’ pretty-pretty patterns to a genuine, gender-free art form. It may also help if, instead of roses, puppies and pretty bridges, themes reveal surprises, unexpected juxtapositions and, of course, good old erotica.
My published books:
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