Showing posts with label asian art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asian art. Show all posts

Friday, August 14, 2009

Animal Head



This was started in the Summer of 2008, inspired by the myriad of fauna in the Cabinet of Natural Curiosities tome that I had recently purchased. It was supposed to be some kind of animal head.
It lay dormant for a year on the big hoop, then I recently revisited it and tried to continue the animal thing but something went wrong. Maybe I lost my initial inspiration, or it was replaced. Now its more of an Animal-God-Spirit head of some sort. The large, oval shaped 'eye' is built up of metallic thread and 'pops out' about a half-centimeter from the surface.
Influences: Asian art, Indian Religious art.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Painters Floss, Robots and Op-Art




Another great discovery I found out about after a year into sewing was the existence of 'Painter's Floss'. Painters Floss is an embroidery thread that is dyed with different colors. It comes in various color schemes - some subtle and monochromatic, some are extreme and psychedelic. The fun thing is that you are assured NOT to have the same color in a single strand of thread.
I went into a new hoop again with no ideas. But I did know I wanted to use the Painters Floss. The first thing that happened was the African mask head at the top. And then gold and red metallic thread turned into a skeletal structure. I suddenly started thinking of high tech robotry. Even robots have an internal structure, like we have bones. In this case the 'bones' are visible on the outside. There is a clear, almost invisible outer shell casing that these robot-beings have. Again, we are talking light years ahead of our modern scientific possibilities. Vampire robot? Maybe. Phallus? I don't know why.
The 'Succubus Angel Robot' (for lack of a better name) developed next (the model from the magazine I used as a reference certainly didn't have a halo on HER head).
The full metallic threaded mask was African and Asian inspired, although the thin, slick, metallic threads definitely jived with the robot theme, as they were like little circuit wires themselves.
I flooded the background with the Painters floss. Earthy colors - blue, green, brown, the yellows and oranges like the leaves of Autumn, all in stark contrast with the shiny, glittery technology.
Then there was the hot pink and white multicolored floss which complimented and contrasted with the earthen hues.
I laid down the painters floss while contemplating crop circles, optical illusions, country door decorations and water.