Why do I have a craft project on Embroidery As Art? Well, this wristlet is the result of a collaboration with Brooklyn-based artist Shelia Pepe who currently has work on display at Testsite with Elizabeth Dunbar. Shelia's crochet takes on enormous scale and creates a mind-blowing web of needlework. Shelia wants viewers of this show to participate by pulling apart the artwork (how often do you get to do that?) and making something functional from it. So, last Sunday during gallery hours, my dear friend Jessica Vitkus (author: Alternacrafts and creator of these hilarious Craft the Vote projects on Slate) and I hung out, knit (yes, I knit something -but I also embroidered on it!) and chatted under the helpful eye of Toby from Hill Country Weavers.
(image via Brooklyn Museum of Art)Shelia and the curators at Testsite invited me to give a talk this coming Sunday at noon on the lessening divide between art and craft. Please come and take part in the discussion.
