sewn drawings.

I fell upon the work of artist China Marks today, while researching another artist, and knew she was a perfect person to feature. Her "sewn drawings" are a collage of fantasy, fairytale, surrealism, and nature. They remind of a handful of other artists though they are completely unique as well.


Trained as a sculptor and years later introduced to the zig zag sewing machine she saw the sewing machine as just one more industrialized tool to create her wacky vision of the world.


Here she talks about how she comes up with the imagery of her fantastical work:

Process generates the imagery. I just have to show up and do the work. I start by moving around scraps of patterned fabric and paying close attention to what is happening under my hands. When something interesting comes together, I lay it on another printed fabric and sew into it. I keep sewing, making changes, picking out stitches, pulling off pieces of fabric and sewing down new scraps, sometimes even cutting the whole thing apart and reconstructing it, all in the service of the process, groping toward something I've never seen before.

Her technique reminds me a bit of the technique of Rebecca Rinquist though the imagery varies quite a bit. China even volunteers to show the back of work. (something I loved about Rebecca's work when she was in my Brooklyn exhibit and I got to see it hands on.)

but her fantasy and fairytale sensibilities as well as her multiple figures evoke a little bit of Orly Cogan's work, again very different but some thread connects them.


See more of China's work, an interview, and some process shots at her website here.