Embroidery is very tactile medium. There’s little, if any, visual tricky that can come from the fuzziness of thread on fabric. Artist Katerina Marchenko pushes this idea to its limit, however, with her stitching on tulle. Stretched tightly across the embroidery hoop, the fabric seems to disappear as the layered thread and beading is all that’s visible. Fish appear as if they’re swimming in some infinite abyss while birds take flight in a cloudless sky. But the illusion doesn’t stop there. After stitching them in the hoop, Marchenko incorporates her work into garments that similarly float on the body.

Images © Katerina Marchenko.