Zavaglia, Cayce (1971)

Embroidered portrait by Cayce Zavaglia. Embroidered portrait by Cayce Zavaglia.

Cayce Zavaglia is an American painter and embroidery artist who is best known for her embroidered portraits. She herself refers to this aspect of her work as "thread painting' or "renegade embroidery". Starting from a photograph, she works her embroideries with 1-stranded thread on a linen ground material. All her portraits are not larger than about 20 x 25 cm. She said herself:

 

"Over the years, I have developed a sewing technique that allows me to blend colours and establish tonalities that resemble the techniques used in classical oil painting. The direction in which the threads are sewn mimic the way brush marks are layered within a painting which, in turn, allows for the allusion of depth, volume, and form. My stitching methodology borders on the obsessive, but ultimately allows me to visually evoke painterly renditions of flesh, hair, and cloth."

Cayce Zavaglia also pays attention to the backside of the embroideries, which she may use for a gouache and acrylic painting, thus turning a photograph into an embrodiery, which is then turned into a painting. For the backs of embroideries, see also the Dutch artist Rob Scholte.

Website of the artist (retrieved 22 February 2017).

Digital source (retrieved 22 February 2017).

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 22 February 2017).

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Last modified on Wednesday, 22 February 2017 17:20