Strata V, Winter

Well, by the time I got to creating Strata V (Winter), I was feeling really comfortable about this new soluble material. I decide to approach this piece as if it were a reverse glass painting. The things closest to the adhesive would be my front...I would stitch looking at the back through the clear soluble. By that I mean, put all the smallest, delicate snippets...the details...on the adhesive first. Then start adding heavier and larger things...covering the small ones up. Then stitch. It is a little backward, but I just can't figure out how to get all the little things to be held down after I've covered up all the adhesive with the bigger things. Anyway, it worked. If anything, I used machine thread that was almost too subtle in coloring. I really like this piece, which is saying something...I don't generally gravitate to these colors. I'm quite excited to get back into the studio this coming weekend and make some more. I've got several new ideas rattling around in my head.

I will, of course, be in my studio each evening this week; but there's nothing quite like spending all day with your fibers...two days in a row. I'm feeling much, much better about the solo exhibit now.

Below is the statement I wrote for the show. Although I type nearly as quickly as I speak and I adore writing, it must have taken two hours to come up with this statement! Every time I'm suppose to write something "official", especially for an academic setting, I really struggle. Next Monday, I have to send a CD with selected images to the university. I'm almost ready. Now, about ten more pieces to make before August 4.

STITCHED!

“Stitched!” will be an exhibition of contemporary free motion embroidery techniques by Columbia artist Susan Lenz featuring two ongoing but related bodies of work. One is created on water-soluble fabric. The other uses a burning tool. Both approaches seek to dissolve the very ground on which the embroidery is made. Design inspirations include aerial views of urban architecture and cross-sectional profiles of the earth’s strata.