I was recently reminded of the artist Leslie Schomp by the amazing and wonderful Cathy.
And my breath is still taken away by her gorgeous and painstakingly beautiful portraits.
I was in a show with Leslie over a year ago and was really blown away by the beauty and detail of her work. Family portraits embroidered with hair.
Deservedly Leslie was a finalist for a MassCultural Grant and has an upcoming show near Boston at the Elizabeth B. Beland Gallery at the Essex Art Center. So all you Bostonians should check it out.
The press release for her upcoming show states:
Leslie Schomp stitches drawings in a response to her everyday routine.Working on vintage handkerchiefs that are alternately objects of commemoration and objects that bear contact with the body, Schomp draws from life as much as possible.
Her recent pieces involve sewing through spaces between two handkerchiefs, working two portraits from a mirror at the same time, mapping the stitches on the backs of each handkerchief as well as through the space between them.
Her work brings to mind the hair memorials of the past- which I have always found heart breakingly beautiful and sweet, bizarre, and creepy. Much like how I feel toward her work. But more toward the heartbreaking.
Her recent pieces involve sewing through spaces between two handkerchiefs, working two portraits from a mirror at the same time, mapping the stitches on the backs of each handkerchief as well as through the space between them.
Her work brings to mind the hair memorials of the past- which I have always found heart breakingly beautiful and sweet, bizarre, and creepy. Much like how I feel toward her work. But more toward the heartbreaking.
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5 comments:
Wow, these are totally creepy. And, you're right, heartbreaking. The detail is really nice, too.
A few years ago the Cincinnati Art Museum purchased a sculpture made from horse hair by Petah Coyne, which was just put up on display again. Actually the museum had an event the other night called "Hair Affair" to sort of celebrate art work that is of the hairy variety. My good friend wrote about on his blog here: http://mattwmorris.blogspot.com/2009/02/rewarding-trip-of-new-experiences-at.html
oh...I love Petah Coyne. Next time I am in Cincinnati maybe I will need to go check it out.
Thanks for the link...:)
These are really beautiful. There was an artist in the "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery" show at MAD that has been doing embroidery with hair as well...
http://www.katekretz.com/hair.html
thanks for the link- a friend of mine loves Kate's work. I had forgotten all about her- thanks for the reminder:)
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