Kate Finally Gets Smart
So, as I have been working on this hair embroidery, I have become increasingly discouraged about the future of my hair embroideries, thinking I will probably never do another one like this (this is the 4th mouth, and the 3rd mouth with a tornado, there is really no reason to spend another 3 months of my life doing another one.) It is incredibly hard on my hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders to grip hairs and tie them off, even with adopting my husband's recent brilliant suggestion that I employ hemostats to help tie off my knots. I know I have only so many hair embroideries in me. No one looking at the pieces in person can imagine what goes into making them or how long they take, and there is no precedent for this kind of work that allows me to charge what should be charged for them.
Today, while working and listening to the Leon Golub tribute on PS1 Radio, I was thinking about a crit I received in grad school. One of my professors was looking at my paintings, which can be so detailed ("wrought" is the way my friend Nora describes them), and the professor said "They look like Michelangelos that are ready to explode". I thought about these hair embroideries, and how I just keep compressing all this time and work into an area measuring just a few square inches. I keep packing in more stitches, and it seems the more I do, the more needs to be done. The tornado image is my symbol of building anxiety, and the process is the manifestation of the anxiety. It feels like this tiny area I have been working on IS ready to explode.
Later, while icing my wrist, I was showing my husband the extreme close up of the embroidery back in my previous post, which I am fascinated with, and it occurred to me: large, gorgeous photos of the hair embroideries mounted onto the back of plexi. Limited editions. The enlargement would allow people to really see and appreciate what is there, and the play on the scale would be fantastic. I am extremely excited about this.....
Of course, this means I may have to work on it another day, as the bar is raised now that it will be blown up......
So, as I have been working on this hair embroidery, I have become increasingly discouraged about the future of my hair embroideries, thinking I will probably never do another one like this (this is the 4th mouth, and the 3rd mouth with a tornado, there is really no reason to spend another 3 months of my life doing another one.) It is incredibly hard on my hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders to grip hairs and tie them off, even with adopting my husband's recent brilliant suggestion that I employ hemostats to help tie off my knots. I know I have only so many hair embroideries in me. No one looking at the pieces in person can imagine what goes into making them or how long they take, and there is no precedent for this kind of work that allows me to charge what should be charged for them.Today, while working and listening to the Leon Golub tribute on PS1 Radio, I was thinking about a crit I received in grad school. One of my professors was looking at my paintings, which can be so detailed ("wrought" is the way my friend Nora describes them), and the professor said "They look like Michelangelos that are ready to explode". I thought about these hair embroideries, and how I just keep compressing all this time and work into an area measuring just a few square inches. I keep packing in more stitches, and it seems the more I do, the more needs to be done. The tornado image is my symbol of building anxiety, and the process is the manifestation of the anxiety. It feels like this tiny area I have been working on IS ready to explode.
Later, while icing my wrist, I was showing my husband the extreme close up of the embroidery back in my previous post, which I am fascinated with, and it occurred to me: large, gorgeous photos of the hair embroideries mounted onto the back of plexi. Limited editions. The enlargement would allow people to really see and appreciate what is there, and the play on the scale would be fantastic. I am extremely excited about this.....
Of course, this means I may have to work on it another day, as the bar is raised now that it will be blown up......
posted by Kate at 10:32 PM
2 Comments:
blowing up the blowing up - that's what i call a perfect match (an idea that has always been around, just waiting to be found).
the detail photos are painful to look at. examining them in person would be pretty captivating.
Hey Libby, I am hoping to have an open studio soon, and I will let you know so you can see some in person if you like.
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