Hand Embroidered “Laura In Pink” 2022, 20”x24” framed by Lucy Bohnsack

Bio:

Fabric and thread was first incorporated in Lucy Bohnsack's work while studying photography in college. It began with exposing images on light sensitive fabric, evolved into stitching on photographic prints, and eventually fabric and thread took the place of paper and silver all together. Now the finished picture, processed in thread on a substrate of fabric, isn't to be seen as a separate entity to the photograph but instead an alternative way of printing. It represents a different and more tactile way of interpreting the image where both the subject and the hand of the photographer are present. 

Statement:

As a student of art history, Lucy became captivated by the romantic qualities of classic lighting and poses in her portraiture. However, she grew frustrated by the intentionally unflawed imagery of women as filtered through male eyes. Lucy decided to switch off the softening filter set on the female experience and reveal it for the complicated and messy beauty it is. The images are no longer perfectly put together; you see the flaws, knots, skipped stitches, and all the pieces historically erased. By interpreting an image in this fashion you experience process and evolution within the portrait as a physical object, side by side with process and evolution within the subject. This is how this individual was made. Every stitch represents a moment. In the end you are left with a layered and complex portrait buzzing with life, love, and experience.