Did you ever expect embroidery to encourage you to “Rise up!” or “Give Hell”? Valeria Molinari’s typographical hoop art fuses the power of language with bright and textural abstract designs. Colorful non-representational shapes—created with thread as well as beading—are carved away by empowering script. “Most of my work is inspired by my activism and the […]
Category: Embroidery
Intricate Moss Embroideries Ease Anxiety with Piled Stitches
Moss might seem like one of the most basic plants, but Emma Mattson shows how beautiful it is with her intricate embroideries. Using a variety of stitches, the artist creates sculptural hoop art that piles high—just the same as its flowerless leaves. This repetitive embroidery is a therapeutic way for Mattson to cope with anxiety. […]
Veselka Bulkan Subverts Traditional Hoop Art by Thinking Outside of It
Veselka Bulkan is the artist behind Little Herb Bouquet, the label under which she creates exquisite hoop art. Her works are a twist on traditional embroidery, and rather than confining her imagery within the circle, tiny felted vegetables dangle off the sides. Carrots, wild onions, and radishes are all free to hang, tethered only by […]
Embroidered Breasts and Butts Challenge the Notion of “Beautiful Bodies”
Note: Contains nudity. “I love bodies,” Sally Hewett writes in an artist statement. “And it is not the conventionally beautiful bodies that take my eye, it is bodies which show their history, that have been altered by their experiences, that are decorated with bruises, scars, spots, stretch marks, freckles, pigmentation, veins.” She recreates sections of […]
From Taboo to Mainstream: Tattoo Art in Illustration, Ceramics, and Embroidery
As tattoos transition from a once taboo practice into one that’s socially acceptable, artists are implementing elements of this timeless body art into their work. In illustrations, ceramics and embroideries, tattoos have two primary focuses: one is purely decorative and adds a special flair to the subject or object. The other takes a conceptual approach, […]
10 Artists Who Contemporize the Ancient Craft of Embroidery
Embroidery is a timeless craft that transcends cultures and geography, having been found as early as the 30,000 BC in Russia, 3500 BC in China… Although it started as a way to tailor and mend clothing, techniques were developed and opened up the possibilities for decorative stitching. As time went on, tapestries became increasingly sophisticated […]
Embroidered Illustrations by Ann Khokhlova are a Sea of Stitches
Embroidery might seem like an odd choice for use in editorial illustration, but Ann Khokhlova proves that it can be a stunning sight. Her series for The Prime Russian Magazine showcases the beauty of thread and needle, as seas of stitches produce highly-textured compositions. These tiny marks are sewn in different directions, creating the illusion […]
Follow the Bloody Thread: Photography by Eliza Bennett
To some extent all artist suffer for their work. But Eliza Bennett has taken this belief to the extreme with her graphic depictions of the struggles of the female artist in her project, “A Woman’s Work Is Never Done.” Through photography and some very bloody embroidery, Bennet uses her own body as a canvas. Her […]
Lifesize Sewn Fabric Sculptures by Do Ho Suh
Do Ho Suh creates sculptures of home appliances and architecture completely out of sewn polyester. He makes blueprints of the pieces before meticulously assembling each one. They are impressively detailed, as in the traditional Korean archway which features embroidered dragons (pictured below). Each installation is like a phantom of the building or appliance it represents, […]
Embroidered Messages
Having featured Maricor and Maricar’s lettering art some years ago, it seems like a good time to check up on the sisters to see what they are doing now? They started making handcrafted projects just for fun, but their eye-catching needlework has interested magazines like Desktop and Meanjin. “All our embroidery work starts off as […]