Not embattled, embraced

“Not Embattled, Embraced.” 2016. 

Paint on fabric with stiffener, stuffing, stitching, embroidery, handmade glass beads. 7.3″ x 3.5″ x 1.5″. 

Thoughts of women’s (reproductive) health book, “Our Bodies, Ourselves” and Barbara Krueger’s, “Your body is a battleground.” 

Text on back of figure (cape) says, “Our bodies are our own. Not embattled, embraced.” 

Perhaps contradictory are the beads strapped to her chest, which remind me of armor and also weaponry, as if she is about to battle. 

In a recent conversation with a friend, I described a 20 minute conversation I have with myself when getting dressed to run or go to work, to go out to meet friends: Is this hemline too short and will it attract too much (unwanted) attention? How many times will I want to tell a guy to put his eyes away or quit commenting? Is this outfit appropriate for school (being with students)? What message does it send? Will I feel comfortable in this? Will I feel safe?

Selfie with @YrImaginaryDog

Fearing that Selfie might get lonely, I made her a dog, @YrImaginaryDog, who provides unsolicited advice via Twitter to @EmbroideryPoems. Follow us to be part of the conversation and watch the development of these narrative, interactive sculptures, making an appearance in your NYC neighborhood soon!

Self(ie)

Starting something new: life-sized (or almost life-sized) fabric figures with embroidered tweets. I'm about to start weaving fabric with which to clothe her. Stay tuned.

Selfi(ie). 2014. Paint and embroidery on
stuffed and sewn fabric.

Open Studios, 9/25/14

It's Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year next week. This happens to coincide with:

1) a break from public school for those of us in the teaching trenches, and 
2) Open Studios at IMC Lab and Gallery. 

Stop by and see a debut of my new series of fabric sculptures in progress, "Native/ Immigrant City."

Open Studios @IMC Lab and Gallery
56 West 22nd Street near 6th Avenue, NYC
F to 23rd Street; N/R to 23rd Street
Thursday, 9/25, 3-8pm

Also featuring performance, sculpture, installation, digital simulation, handcraft and interactive digital environment(s) by Colleen Flanigan, Dan Baker, Tal and Omer Golan and Iviva Olenick

Embroidery 3D Workshop at 61 Local - join me Monday, 9/15, 10:30-1:30

I am teaching a special brunch time 3D embroidery class on Monday, September 15 from 10:30am - 1:30pm. Join us in the 61 Local mezzanine, 61 Bergen Street, Brooklyn. Among in-class exercises, we will make mini doll houses, like the ones below.

To purchase a spot in the class, $35 for 3 hours of instruction with supplies provided, use the button below:

www.IvivaOlenick.com

I've been slowly making organizational and content changes to my web site, www.IvivaOlenick.com. I'm particularly excited about a new series of small, soft sculptures, "Native/Immigrant City." You can check them out here.

  

This tree was planted in front of my apartment as part of the NYC Million Trees project. "Brooklyn Full of Leaves, Treehouses." 2014. Sculpture with fabric, paint, stiffener, embroidery. 

Starting off 2014 with a non-literal but literary Bang

(freedom is a trip)

a concrete (i.e. visual) poem by Montana Ray 

My re-interpretation in embroidery and fabric manipulation with stuffing...A "soft" gun. Flat, before stuffing and embroidering, the separate fabric pieces I cut resembled Montana's original - I traced her poem to get the right shape. Somehow in the translation, the shape morphed. For one, I added extra fabric at the extreme right because I ran out of space for the top 3 lines of the poem. 

As you can tell, the piece is small
- 3.5" h x 7" w x 1" d

Fun with 3 dimensions

So the fun of making jewelry and experimenting with 3 dimensions has led to more figurative experiments as well. Below is a piece in progress. I can't wait to continue and "finish" this "doll."

"Stitching Myself Together."
Watercolor, embroidery,
stitching, batting (fill)
appliqué. 2013. In progress.