Stitching together tradition with modernity

After graduating from middle school in the 1970s, Zhao joined the Wuxi embroidery factory. Thanks to her quick learning and grasp of essential skills, she was sent to the now-defunct Wuxi arts and crafts research institute, where she began specializing in the research and creation of local embroidery.

Yet, as industrialization advanced around the 1990s, traditional handicrafts like Wuxi embroidery began to decline.

Zhao says she and her colleagues went through a dark time after the market economy took hold, since manual work faced significant challenges from mechanization.

"At the worst of times, I even considered switching careers, but I couldn't bear to leave," she says.

She then tried to evolve Wuxi embroidery in the wave of social progress, from refining the traditional craft to using new materials and aesthetic standards.

Her bold innovation won recognition. Embroidering luminous diodes onto phoenix tail feathers and a female crown with a fine copper wire cleverly stitched in between earned her multiple prizes, including the Baihua award, one of the country's most prestigious honors in the field of arts and crafts, in 1990.

Although it was a meaningful advancement in her trade, Zhao later abandoned the light technique in her works after some reflection.

"The art is meant to be beautiful and tranquil, never ostentatious. So, I decided to return to the gentle elegance of Wuxi embroidery," she explains.

This episode deepened her understanding of innovation, guaranteeing that her creations continue to be grounded in the tradition of Wuxi embroidery.

In 2005, Zhao opened a workshop and began recruiting apprentices to help carry forward the embroidery art.

Over the years, she has never stopped exploring, learning and perfecting her craft.

"At its core, embroidery techniques are universal. What you truly embroider in the end are deeper meanings, personal refinement, and vision," Zhao says.

In her eyes, the intricate, subtle elegance of Wuxi fine embroidery aligns seamlessly with the gentle spirit of Jiangnan, the southern region of the lower reaches of Yangtze River.