Stitches & Sutures - Embroidered Figures

Many of my creative practices and creations are tied to memories and experiences. I’m not unusual in that way. For instance, I have many memories of people in my family plying a needle and thread for expressive and practical needs.

As a result, to me, embroidery and sewing are a fantastic blend of creativity and utilitarianism.

Over the last few months, I’ve been using that blend to explore creating with textiles and embroidery.

The idea that kept showing up at first was to explore making embroidered versions of my simplistic figure outlines.

I’d started drawing these overly simple people figures in my doodling practice a while ago. I think they’d begun to appear in my doodles because I’d started to think less of how people looked and more about their inner selves. The simplicity of the figures allowed me the space and freedom to explore that.

The figure you see directly below was the first stitched figure I made.

This one was wholly made from instinct. I wasn’t interested in technique or doing things “correctly” so much as I was completely focused on making this creation match my mental and emotional state at the time.

This piece is made of cotton muslin, avocado-dyed cotton, linen, and embroidery floss. All items I already had on hand in my studio.

This next one was also purely about expression, but my mixed-media artist brain started to kick in to help me create what I needed.

I kept trying different things with this figure and even undid all of my previous embroidered progress at one point. I finally took it into my studio and started to layer different things on top of the figure. The wire and medical gauze were from a fabric rust-dyeing experiment I’d just finished.

The idea to weave the rusted metal through the medical gauze popped into my head when I tried to envision what anxiety felt like to me.

Sharp things into soft things.

This can result in a thing made or a thing destroyed.

The difference lies in the intention.

This figure is, so far, my most complex in this series in terms of materials and processes.

I used rust-dyed fabric and nails, air-dry clay elements, embroidery, and fabric paint.

I didn’t plan it this way. It started with the halo of nails. I’d inserted them that way into a piece of muslin to rust dye them and when I did a final rinse, I was intrigued by the shape. I knew it needed to go around the head of a figure.

Each element of this piece came together in much the same way: instinct and bursts of inspiration.

These figures are some of the most honest and vulnerable works I’ve created in a while. I’m thankful for every cathartic stitch.

Maybe these stitches are really more like sutures? Holding me together while I heal.

In any case, I’m not sure if these are finished. For now, they’ll keep me company in my studio while I contemplate how I’d like to finish them so they can be displayed publicly when I’m ready.

I know these aren’t the best photos of these pieces, by the way. I’m experiencing what we think is an autoimmune flare-up that’s causing my vision to be blurry. I’m taking care of myself and have started treatment for my eyes but the photos may be wonky for a little while.

And, friends? That’s okay.

I’d rather show up fully and imperfectly, than not show up at all.