"Joan of Arc" by Ray Materson
I embroider. I embroider miniature images using the thread I glean from socks...Yes! Socks. I have collected a great many socks over the years and as long as they are there I'm going to use them...call me a recycler if you will.
The work I create, the images, run the gamut from edgy, personal life images to portraits and sports - mainly baseball - art. I like to think of my embroideries as my job; strange though it may seem.
But my job is really more than a means to put bread and butter on the table. It is through the artwork, through the creative process, that I continue to heal and reconstruct myself. There is always reconstructing that needs to be done. The art is my therapy in a manner of speaking. It keeps me centered and if I am away from it for too long I get uncomfortable. I stress.
I pull apart menial socks and create something new and beautiful out of them. I like to think of this as a metaphor for my own life experience.
I am represented by a gallery in New York City, the American Primitive Gallery. But I am also available through my websites to create personal portrait work for individuals
or to create specific theme images and commissions.
Artist's Statement: I create art from socks. The works are very small, 2.5 inches x 3 inches roughly. But I have heard they attract people, like jewels in a velvet case. Artwork, moving from the lowly and menial to the sublime. I am honored that people enjoy my work.
Location: Montpelier, Vermont, USA
Web stores: Ray Materson, American Primitive
Languages spoken: English
"Industrial Land" by Ray Materson
TAGS: needlework, embroidery, commissions, historical, society, self-taught, folk art, primitives, urban landscape, portraits, people, outsider art
Ray, I think I saw an article about you and the sock embroideries way back in the early 80s. Can that be you????? If so, good for you!!!!! Keep it up! Susan, who used to embroider a LOT, til my fingertips got numb from it!
ReplyDeleteRay, I am very impressed with your work on a number of levels: I love your embroidery technique and the recycled thread from socks is brilliant! Many of your pieces speak about the society we live in too. We should all stop and think about how we treat each other! I would love to see your work in person too... What a treat that would be! Keep up the stellar work!
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