Take my breath away

On Wednesday I went to the ICA in Boston to see the Exhibit with Dr. Lakra, an artist and tattooist from Oaxaca, Mexico. His name can be translated to something like Dr. Delinquent. I have a thing for tattoos and old school, kinda 50's style art, and Dr. Lakra uses both in his art besides from mixing a whole lot of symbols from cultures worldwide.

Picture from the visual art guide Art Splash

Little did I know that another exhibit there, would blow me away completely.

Do you know the feeling when your heart starts to beat faster, and you feel kinda out of breath. Similar to being in love, the moment he sends you a smile, or maybe a text, or he invites you out.. 

Well, that's how I felt walking around looking at these incredible art pieces. Of course it's because of what I do. I sew. I embroider. I'm nerdy about it. I love it. And I appreciate the difficulties and how much work it is.

I am talking about the artist Charles LeDray and his work.

He makes everything himself. Only three found objects. No assistants. His mom taught him to sew and embroider from he was four years old and he is so talented!

His exhibit called workworkworkworkwork at the ICA contains a number of smaller or miniature sized suits and outfits, alot of them connected with even smaller ones. A tiny suit made of and attached to a small suit. A small jacket with an unknown number of clothes inside. A blanket of little garments. Jackets and suits with embroidered labels on.
 

First LeDray picture from the Telegraph. Other pictures are from the website Sperone Westwater.

Read more about the exhibit here.

If this catches you, read also this blog post from The Layers Of Meaning.

Like I said, I was blown away. And feeling like this looking at his work, 

I know I am in the right place.

Under the sea / From the Deep

Knitted art inspired by life under sea. Fra Dybet (From The Deep) is an exhibit by the knitting artist Marianne Johnstad-Møller, that took place at Officinet. Officinet is courated by The Danish Arts and Crafts Association. 

I think this shows how many possibilties textile crafts holds and how much respect it deserves.

The Danish Museum of Art and Design in Copenhagen

Because of my homeless situation, it has been a while since I last posted anything. I'd like to get better at making a few posts, when I have the time and possibility, so that I can publish on a more regular basis.

Recently we visited The Danish Museum of Art and Design in Copenhagen with my school, where we among other things looked at these fantastic embroidery pieces.

This one is especially great.

It's all embroidery. It can be hard to see unless you're very close and it's simply one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. To shape the muscles of the animals and create a relief they used cork or wook and then embroidered over that.

It's like a little cupboard with doors and drawers from China.

 This one is also made with small pieces of wood under the silver thread to make a relief. It almost looks llike it's actually pieces of silver on it. I'd love to something like that for a belt.

This is embroidery and application on tulle made in the end of the 1800s.

Notice the animals. It's such a cute idea for a collar.

Next are a couple of pieces of newer embroidery. I love the dandelion.

It's easy to forget how much inspiration you can draw from older designs and techniques. I really think these pieces prove how many ways you can use historic items creating new ideas.