glow baby, glow

22" round. cotton, rayon and glow-in-the-dark floss on linen. Orly Cogan embroidered for Spring's WHITE OUT exhibition. In case it's unclear, the baby glows in the dark.

"JUST THIS ONCE..."

23" round embroidered toile.
This will be on view at The Shelburne Museum in The Carriage House from September 4th until October 25th. It will be positioned next to the piece which inspired it, THE GARDEN OF EDEN by the American Folk artist Erastus Salisbury Field which is part of the museum's permanent collection, image above.

Toil(e)

3 new pieces: a green man, monsters as children and a Blue Oyster Cult song.

The BRIGHT and SHINING LIGHT of IRREVERENCE

My first solo exhibition, title above, is on view in the Kalkin House at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont from May 17th until October 25th. I'll be giving a gallery talk there on August 13.
The link:

http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/whats_on/new_exhibits_detail.php?id=39

Additionally, I've built another blog devoted to the installation THE SALON OF LOVE AND HORROR which is included in the show. The SALON is approximately 40 portraits done by a variety of artists from around the world depicting me as a human/animal hybrid:

http://salonofloveandhorror.blogspot.com/

some of the work included in the show:

FIVE PRINTS





2009, 12" X 17" each

A set of five prints based upon a suite of silhouettes in a bedroom of the Brick House located on the shores of Lake Champlain. The interiors are actual rooms from the Brick House, two of them from the doll's house.

BOTANIKOS print

2009, 36" X 55"

A wallpaper design reminiscent of nineteenth century botanical illustration.

HEXAGONAL QUILT print

2009, 40" X 40"

Also inspired by a quilt from the Shelburne's illustrious collection, also digitally-generated noise, this time in tessellated form.

SQUARE QUILT print

2009, 44" X 44"
Inspired by a quilt in the Shelburne's collection, the squares are computer-generated noise fields.

FAUXNASETTI bar towels





2009, printed cotton, 20" X 36" each

An homage to the great Italian designer, these 5 bar towels are the country cousins of good design.

B(e)(a)r(e)skin Throw



2009, 54" X 80" woven cotton "photo throw"

HAWK WINDOW




2009, 42 inches round, stained glass made in collaboration with Marina Borker.

Installation Views:

Sunsnatcher

These two stained glass pieces are included in the American Design Club's HUE ARE YOU? exhibition currently on view at The Future Perfect in Brooklyn. Each measures 14 x 6 and was designed by me and fabricated by Marina Borker. The one on the left is meant to replace vinyl decals meant to ward birds off from flying into windows. The one on the right is just pretty.

UPDATE: Someone stole the black bird from the exhibition. While I am flattered that said thief would risk jail time in order to own a piece of stained glass, (s)he should know that karma can be a harsh mistress.

The LOVE series

These cushions were created for a french book on art and design, title to follow, and will be shown at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore 2/27-3/1. LOVE!

Birdmen

Young Mr. Lincoln

This piece was selected for the Abraham Lincoln Birthday Bicentennial exhibition currently on view at ART IN THE AGE in Philadelphia.

The Travers Series

Here are the correct sides of the set of cushions I completed this summer for four Knoll Tulip chairs. The reverse sides are below.

City of Lost Angels

A piece made for SPRING's A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH show. The first view is a daylight one, the second is the piece in the dark. 13 X 20 inches, polyester glow-in-the-dark thread embroidered on silk bengaline.
The passage, in which each word is embroidered in braille at ninety degrees and in tiny french knots, is from Milton's Paradise Lost:

....our final hope
Is flat despair: we must exasperate
Th' Almighty Victor to spend all his rage,
And that must end us, that must be our cure,
To be no more; sad cure; for who would lose,
Though full of pain, this intellectual being,
Those thoughts that wander through Eternity,
To perish rather, swallowd up and lost
In the wide womb of uncreated night,
Devoid of sense and motion?

Son of Frankentoile

I've revisited my Frankentoile concept, this time concentrating on adding context to a monochromatic Pierre Deux print. Breathe....BREATHE!!!!

The COLD COMFORT Cushion Cluster

My first product designed with the great outdoors in mind. Remnant Sunbrella® indoor/outdoor fabric encasing custom-made porcelain nipples, filled w/ feathers & down.

The EXTRA-FANCY ABATTOIR

My 25 piece installation

ProtoBolster in THE EXTRA-FANCY ABATTOIR

is on view in at SPRING in DUMBO this summer:

www.spring3d.net/

http://protobolster.blogspot.com/



photos by Steve Butcher.

ProtoBolster

http://protobolster.blogspot.com/

The ProtoBolster is an earth-friendly cushion made from remaindered fabric cuttings and stuffed w/sustainable, plant-based kapok fiber: 25 inches of cuddling pleasure.

Illustration:PLAY

There's a 10 page bit on my work in the book above published by the nice kids at Victionary.

memo: Stitching Time, a sampler

I was invited to created a green clock for the Make Time for a Green Cause benefit held Nov.16th at SPRING in DUMBO. A memo, or large fabric sample, is stretched on a hoop and the coded numerals 1-12 are embroidered in either a glow-in-the-dark or tweed thread on the reverse side of a print depicting a Roman statue. Reading outwards from the center, the numerals are in UPC code, Braille, Postal code and Morse code. The hands of the clock are needles so please be careful if attempting to read the Braille.

http://www.treesftf.org/main.htm

http://www.maketimeforagreencause.com/

Frankentoile

I resurrected my Frankentoile concept for the Pierre Deux 40th birthday soiree/competition. 20 cushions were given as gifts to the participants and judges. Hmmmm, it just occurred to me that although I was a participant (see embroidered piece below), I received no gift. A silly oversight on someone's part, no doubt. The print is pieced back together using cast off scraps from the cutting of the cushion itself. I have a bit of fabric left over and I'm working on some which are a bit less conventional.

Hypertrichosis

"Congenital generalized Hypertrichosis or werewolf syndrome is a medical term referring to a condition of excessive body hair." - from Wikipedia. Just so you know...

Pierre Deux

Here's a 20 X 24 inch embroidered linen wall piece which is to be auctioned off for Aid To Artisans on Nov. 14th at OCHRE in NYC. The event is a celebration of The French design house Pierre Deux's 40 year anniversary.

The Knot Sky

Glow-in-the-dark french knots embroidered onto a slub-heavy wool, it depicts the stars of the summer sky and measures 18 X 18 inches. The first picture is a daylight view, the second a nighttime one.

Taking Things Seriously

I have an essay in the pretty wonderful new compendium Taking Things Seriously published this month by Princeton Architectural Press. My object even made it onto the cover. It was also featured on a holiday card I did a while back.

The Lost Girls

A series of prints I've just finished for SPRING's THREADED show in DUMBO. Each measures 24" X 36" and is a archival giclée print on heavy weight canvas, embroidered w/rayon floss, stretched and mounted. Prices furnished upon request.


Statement:
A few years ago, I was hired by a rather high end, psuedo-scientific cosmetics company to design
a limited edition "art box" filled w/ anti-aging unguents for their holiday season. Never one to shy away from incorporating a subversive message into my work while shilling for THE MAN, I came up with the custom toile design of The Lost Girls inspired by JM Barrie's characters from Peter Pan: little boys dressed in animal costumes who are afraid to grow up. The client presented the initial designs to it largest retailer, they were horrified and I was promptly fired. Revisiting the toile later on, it occurred to me that the cosmetics metaphor can very easily be carried through to my noncommercial work whereby embroidery is applied to a preexisting traditional print in order to make the original design more appealing, relevant and desirable to modern tastes. The stitch thus becomes a superficial application that changes the form of the whole in an attempt to first conceal and then appeal to The Other: Pretty, Fresh, New & Young!

send out the clowns

While wondering why I've been doing so many clowns in the past few months, a friend pointed out that my grandmother collected ceramic clowns when I was a child...I dont even like clowns but I cant seem to stop embroidering them. I think I'll start doing monsters from here on in.

'nother sofa

I chose the same Pierre Frey toile I used for the headboard (see below), this time in black, for five large cushions to sit on a built-in platform that forms a sofa for a house in the Hamptons. I'll post a photo once the piece is installed.

a clown for Beatrice's first

5 X 7, 2007

a few more rowboats

it's my favorite motif in the print.

Toile & Tats cushions

some highlights of the Toile & Tats line from the past year.

www.historicallyinaccurate.com

Toile Sofa, the first

I did this for The Future Perfect in Williamsburg. The sofa is made by Bensen and the toile from Pierre Frey.

http://www.thefutureperfect.com/

Toile Sofa, the second

The second sofa. It's there now - check it out. As shown: $5500.00

http://www.thefutureperfect.com/

Danger in the Garden

My Danger in the Garden cushions were featured in the ponderous Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers. Silhouetted insects are embroidered on a pornographically fecund cotton rose print.