Faces

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        One of my favourite subjects has been and remains the human face (and

figure). What has amazed me is how really severe stylisation and distortion need

to be before we fail to read a face into a pattern. Picasso taught us a lot.

 I'm still exploring.

                                                 

        The above images show a number of brooches which I made in 1999. The first two were approximately

3.5"/9cm high, the others 2.5"/ 6.5 cm and under. All were embroidered on a sandwich featuring silk or lamé

covered with a gold nylon organza, and were bagged out.

                         

        I made the above pieces when I was exploring a cubist-influenced style. I find that many Australian

students (beginners) seem to want to do pictorial embroidery immediately - usually the bush hut and gum

trees - without realising that, to do this to their satisfaction - even at that point , they would need to have

experimented and developed a repertoire of techniques. I wished to make the point that machine embroidery

is about stitching and surface decoration, about playing with and exploring the stitches, not about making

"pretty pictures". Cubism, with its distortions and fracturing, seemed to be the answer.

    I therefore made my Bloke III vest for the 1998 Art to Wear exhibition in cubist-inspired style. (Private

collection, New Zealand) The first image is the sample (now in a private collection in Wellington,

New Zealand) for the back of the vest, the second, third and fourth are the finished vest pieces. It might

be of interest - in terms of design and the creative process - to see both what has been discarded and

what retained and developed in the design of the back. The last image is a small exercise in extreme

distortion, jokingly called The Elephant Man. (Private collection, Australia/South Africa)

                1.        2.        3.        4.       

          1. and 2. Cushion Covers (details), 1999. (Private collection, Sunshine Coast) Overall finished

        measurements 18"/46 cm square

        3. Sibyl I (2000) - Encouragement award at Mittagong Forum 2000, commissioned by Bernina Australia

        4. Sibyl II (2002) - commission for a friend in Richland, Washington state

               5.        6.        7.          8.

         5. Vest: The Three Cubist Graces (Flatness, Angularity and Distortion) (2000) (Private collection,        

       Winnipeg)

        6. Vest (2000) (Private collection, Launceston, Tasmania) A crossover/double-breasted vest; the

      pupils of the eyes are the buttons.

        7. Shawl-collar for Oread, Art to Wear, 1999 (photographed before making up)

        8. Handbag (2000) (Private collection, Brisbane) (9" across the top)

             9.

        9. Neck purse (2000) (private collection, Victoria) (6" across the top) and Two Brooches

            All of the above show the development of the cubist influence: the faces are distorted and angular,

the planes articulated by shading; though the eyes are treated in various degrees of stylisation. FME on a

collage of hand-painted silks and lamé covered with a sheer.

 

                 1.        2.       3.

           1. Split Personality (2000) (detail) (Private collection, Canada)

           2. Technical Sample for Jack the Lad (2002) (H 13.75"/34 cm x W 10"/25 cm)

           3. Jack the Lad (the Jack of Clubs) (2003) (H 28" x W 18") - my contribution to the Artful Deck

        project in the USA. The entire collection of 55 cards (including a cover card), each by a different

        textile artist, is  currently doing the exhibition rounds of the USA. Groups or organisations interested

        in hosting an exhibition should contact the curator patsy monk at pcmonk@verizon.net

        Here, the cubist influence is waning. 1. retains the two-face style, 2. keeps the angularity, though it

        is softening. With Jack the Lad, only some degree of distortion was retained.

       (See Fabric Collage under a Sheer.)

                                                     

                                                  

                Vest for Another Bloke, Art to Wear, 2003

        I wanted to do a piece featuring the females in the court cards and chose them for this outfit. You

can tell who they are from the symbols on their crowns. I completed these before Jack the Lad, and, while

I enjoyed embroidering the more subdued two-face style, it was working on these that made me decide to

adopt a more naturalistic style with Jack.

              1.        2.        3.

           1. Despite her finery, she sometimes felt she was sinking into the wallpaper (detail)

           2. Though she loved a sunburnt country, she preferred to stay indoors (detail) (Private collection,

        Townsville, Queensland)

           3. She often dreamed of life as a geisha (detail)

        Here, I've returned to the two-face idea, only this time the halves of the face are radically different

- and more surrealist than cubist. The faces, as well as some other areas, are stitched in mossing.

                                                      

                                                      

         All of the above are icons from the Vest of my Bloke IV outfit, originally for Art to Wear, 1999. The

first Archangel was my technical sample to experiment with interpreting the wings. The second is as he

appears on the back yoke of the vest.

    For an explanation of the  above technique of fabric collage under a sheer,

                         go to Fabric Collage

                        Or, instead, go to Bark, Lichen and Fungi

                        or go to Layering

                                or return to Machine Embroidery