Sunday 16 August 2015

Faces to Vancouver

I'm exhibiting two new embroidered works in an invitational show titled Let's Face It, curated by Barbara Cohen, opening Aug 27th in Vancouver at the Circle Craft Gallery on Granville Island.


Goddess of Green, Valerie Knapp© 2015 Hand embroidery, vintage magazine photo,
DMC thread, vintage lace flower, mounted and stitched on paper.


Goddess of Green, (detail) Valerie Knapp© 2015. Hand embroidery, vintage magazine photo, DMC thread, vintage lace flower, mounted and stitched on paper. 



I liked the theme of the face and the opportunity to show in Vancouver. My work often investigates parts of the body, such as the eye, heart, and lungs so to explore the whole face was enticing. Goddess of Green grew out of this image that I had stowed away for many years. I worked directly into the image from start to finish.  Inflated started with the magnificent lips and then the right face was found; the lips were intricately stitched, then applied to this face scavenged from a 1950's magazine. These paper pieces are delicately hand-stitched with a beading needle with DMC cotton.



Inflated, Valerie Knapp© 2015 Hand embroidery, vintage magazine photo,
DMC thread, pencil, beads, antique lace, mounted on foam core. 



Also included in the show are two of my Boxed Embroideries, in particular embroidered sleeping child pieces, Dream #3 and Dream #4,  which are part of a series of tiny stitched faces, tucked under blankets and shown inside small boxes.  In this case, in a sterling silver vintage tooth box and an antique ring box.




Dream #4, Valerie Knapp© 2011 Hand embroidery, cotton sheeting,
DMC thread,  cotton padding, mounted in antique Ryrie-Birks ring box 



Dream #3, Valerie Knapp© 2009 Hand embroidery, cotton sheeting,  DMC thread,  cotton
padding, mounted in sterling silver vintage Lunt tooth box.

Invitation


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