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.

Urban images - signage, graffiti, FiberGraf

This piece at left is the latest in my collaboration with graffiti artist, Jon Baker. He has provided me with colorful images, like the one at left, which I transform into embroideries. This one is from his black book, a sketchbook graffiti artists use to perfect their tags (signatures).

This one is nearly finished, although I would like to add more French knots to some of the smaller squares of ink above the "Hens" tag (Jon's tag).

I usually post this work on another blog, but wanted to include this here, mostly because I find myself very drawn to urban imagery lately, as evidenced in my previous two posts about "Forgotten Brooklyn" signage. 

I also discovered that another fiber artist, Marie Elcin, recently created an embroidered graffiti piece. You can see it here. 

Thanks, readers, for your feedback about "Forgotten Brooklyn." I appreciate your honest comments. 

Connective Thread at Sweet Lorraine Gallery

Last night was the opening for Connective Thread, a multi-artist, fiber show curated by Joetta Maue at Sweet Lorraine Gallery in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

When I walked into the gallery, I was completely blown away by the quality of craftsmanship and imaginative treatment of materials. Wow! I especially loved Rebecca Rinquist's machine- and hand-stitched fabric collages that buckle and bend under the weight of so much stitching. Her work seems both violent and loving at the same time. 

I was also quite taken with the work of Crystal Gregory, who incorporates crochet into the urban landscape as a form of graffiti. Her crocheted doilies adorn and disrupt brick, cinder blocks, and menacing fences. Other pieces reference the body and metabolic processes in lace-like stencils and quilts. All of her handwork seems to have a delicate, lace-like quality, in sharp contrast to the subject matter and contexts in which she likes to create installations.

Finally, as an applicant whose work was not selected for the show, I was invited to hang work just for the opening. I decided to show the piece above, Deflowered, which consists of hand-made "underwear." This piece is conceptually part of my Were I So Besotted series, but not as literally narrative as most of my work. I have never shown this piece before, nor even shared it with my gallerist, Muriel Guepin. I don't think I've ever included it in an application for a show, either. It seems a bit of a departure aesthetically from my other work. Nonetheless, I did receive some positive feedback.

Many thanks to Joetta Maue for galvanizing a truly inspiring fiber art exhibit (and within walking distance of my home!). I hope you will check it out, too, if you live in the New York area. The Gallery is located at 183 Lorraine Street, 3rd Floor. Public hours are Weds-Fri, 12-4pm and by appointment (contact Joetta).

The Quickest Path

"I'll take the quickest path to loving you."

I seem to be on a very slow path to finding someone to love. I used to feel more of a sense of urgency about this in my late 20s. 

Now, I'm all tied up in dreaming of how to make my living as an embroiderer/embroidery workshops teacher. Every day, I do feel closer to this, and as if I am on the right path.

One current business idea: "Hope for the love-torn" - 

Custom embroideries of your perfect boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/etc.

You supply a written description, I will create a preliminary sketch for us to review, which I will then translate into an embroidery.

My idea of romance

I hope this one gets a few laughs, although, I really do feel this way.

Dream with you

My dream is to quit my design job, and start my own business. When I say I want my own business, what I mean is that I want to be my own brand: IvivaEmbroiders, Iviva Fiber Artist, Iviva Olenick, etc. 

Right now, I feel as though I have three jobs: a full-time job as a designer for a menswear company; an artist; and an embroidery workshops teacher. I love everything I do, but I am always thinking about my other jobs when I am engaged in one of them. This causes me stress. I don't feel satisfied. I feel as if I cannot give everything of myself in any one situation, and I am constantly drained and frustrated. It isn't fair to me, or my students, that I feel this way.

I need to make a change, and am working towards being my own boss.

Thank you to the friends and family members who believe in my work. Thank you to the friends I feel comfortable enough with to share my hopes and ideas.

New Post-its

Last night's opening of Visual Vernacular was a success! Several of my "post-it" pieces sold. Here are some new ones.