a happy development

Most of you know that during this pandemic, my art faltered a bit…enough that I was able to clean out my entire studio. Well, the mess is back: scraps everywhere, all horizontal surfaces covered, dishes and laundry piling up. Art is happening! (Picture dancing little emojis here) Here’s why I’m so happy -

I told you how few sculptural sewing images were available. I started looking at paintings of women sewing. Lots more, like the ones above.

Maybe I could sew individual figures, like I did for the border of my Opus Mundi?

And that might still happen, at some point, but then I came across this quilted image of a woman sewing (Below) and remembered the mola I had seen which pictured a woman stitching a mola.

(picture a light bulb flashing here) What about sewing images of women creating textile art, with each one done in the technique she is using????

A quilted piece showing a quilter.

An embroidered piece showing a woman doing embroidery.

A woven piece of a woman weaving?

An applique of a woman stitching her pieces together? YES!!!! Let’s jump right in:

In India, I saw women sewing like this, attaching 2 pieces of cloth with row after row of lovely stitches. This photo was found online.

I photoshopped a design (Above), rummaged through my stash of fabrics, and…

… I started sewing. Not finished, but enough done to be very excited and think this will work. Now - what about her face and hands? Well, I wouldn’t want this to be simple, right? No, of course not. Each one will be constructed as a riza. What’s a riza?

Glad you asked. Basically a riza is a cover for a Russian icon. Usually constructed of metal, the riza protected the painting from the heavy smoke in the churches. Openings were left to see the hands and faces. This blog https://catalogueofstelisabethconvent.blogspot.com/2017/12/understanding-meaning-of-riza-and-oklad.html gives a nice explanation, with illustrations.

By constructing these pieces as rizas, I separate the women from their work. The work - the textiles they created - may live on, but the women are usually forgotten. So I will show their faces as blurry images, with individual identification being impossible. Or I may just leave some of them empty…?

So I am a very happy camper here, stitching away and photoshopping images to create other rizas.

Stay safe. Stay sane.

Diane