A. Aube Designs

Baba Yaga

2007-03-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

So she is not nearly as bloody as the others, and overall appears quite tame. I still like her even though her lack of true "claws" leads me to want to do another. The reason that she fits in the series is that she is an outsider in her society the way that the rest of my women are. They all live on the fringe of society. Living on the fringe has both its pluses and minuses. The major minus is that one is never fully excepted by the society, it can get pretty lonely when one is not excepted. The plus of being on the outside of society is that one can look more objectively at that society and at other societies. Baba Yaga was known as a dangerous and scary individual but at the same time she was visited by heroes and heroines who were looking for help and guidance.

Kali

2007-03-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

So this is my latest embroidery, I just finished it last night and now that I look at it I think his penis needs a little work either to be made bigger or to be outlined and made more prominate. So the "he" that I'm talking about is the Siva. Siva is the god of destruction in the Hindu pantheon. A better way of saying that is that he is the god of destruction in order for creation to continue. The subject of death and regeneration is something that I really enjoy. Well anyway this embroidery isn't about him any way. The Embroider is all about Kali, she is the one on top with the sword and severed head. The head is no ones in particular just a part of most of the pictures I've seen, it could be the head of one of the Demons who she is said to have killed. So Kali is a facinating godess and a many faceted one. She is the savior of the gods but at the same time she can destroy the world if her blood lust gets out of control. She is prayed to for help in child birth but at the same time followers of Kali will sacrifice young children and infants to her. I have to say that the reason that I chose Kali for an embroidery is because she is a fearsom female, and that she is dominating over Siva. I was facinated with her since I first saw her. For more infromation on Kali check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali

Sheela Na Gig

2007-03-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

As you can see this is the latest in my series of embroideries. Isn't she great!! She is based as you can see on the statue located right next to her. These Sheela Na Gigs can be found all over Europe on the sides of catholic Churches constructed in the Middle Ages and earlier. There are many theories to what she means. Many believe that she is a hold over of an ancient neolithic Frog Goddess. The size of this embroidery is smaller than the others being about 5 inches by 5 inches.

Skin

2007-03-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

This series of pieces I made this last fall for my show Stitched together. Initially these were inspired by a series of meat trays that I had decoupaged body parts which I had cut out of magazines into. I started making these Meat trays soon after my cat Neco died. These stretched pieces of "skin" with pictures embedded came soon after the Meat trays. The "skin" is essentially layers of gel medium which have built up on a piece of visquine and then peeled off when they got to a certain thickness. I then took these "skins" and sewed them into picture frames.

When everything falls apart

Achilles heel

Stitched together

Three or the four horse men of the Apocalypse

The Secret

What if... This one is my favorite!!

Old Boys!!!

2007-03-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

These are the good old boys. I love the pieces which are pictured below each of them has been in several shows, and a couple hang in my house as I speak. I thought they might be interesting for those of you have not yet seen them.

Above can be seen my curly ribbon blanket. This particular piece was the bane of my existance for about two years. When I came up with the idea, I did not realize how hard it would be to birth this piece in to existance. So the basic idea is a pretty simple one, that of texture. From a distance the curly ribbon blanket looks somewhat shiney and soft, like silk. But when touched it is hard, brittle, and scratchy. All of my art work is ment to be touched, and this piece was the basis for that. My Ferral blanket was the first piece that I ever made. It is made out of very solid rough felt. It has pieces of hair with hang off of it. This piece is currantly hanging in my living room and will probably always hang there.

This piece and the one below it are siblings as far as I see. The both have the same idea about the use of Materials in weaving. They both have sexual connotations in my mind because of the long threads hanging down in the front. Each one could also double as a apron or string skirt.

Cool New Stuff

2007-03-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

So I would love all of you to check out this new site that I'm working on. So what I need from all of you is for you to go to this web site and rate my art work annieaube1.artfaceoff.com the more votes I get the better it is for me. You can also find this link in my favorite link category, under Annie Art Faceoff. So please go on and vote. All the pieces below are things that I have been working on since I did the embroideries. Most of these are based on similar ideas to the ones I was working on before the embroideries. Ideas such as texture and vulvas.

Black Cloth Layered fabric, with different textures

White vulvas

Black Vulvas

Creepy Kid Cloth

Criedne cuts off her breasts

2007-02-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

So this embroidery is based on a Celtic ledgend. Criedne was a young girl, she had been raped three times by her father and every time she ended up getting pregnant and having a baby. When it came out that she had been raped by her father the druids blamed her for suducing her father. The ironic part is that the thing which Criedne was the most angry about was that her father Connel Black Foot would not acknowledge her children as legitimate heirs. She was so angry that she gathered an army of men and pretty much destroyed Connel BlackFoots kingdom. After this happens Connel Black Foot makes the attempt to rape Criedne again. "Conall Blackfoot dragged me to him. I pulled the sharp knife from my belt. I ripped open my bodice. Cut off both my breasts. Blood spilled on the late summer grass. I flung my breasts at my father. 'Since you have such a taste for my body, eat these.'" She then becomes part of the sun and him the moon.

Chinnamasta Embroidery

2007-02-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

So this image probably seems pretty intense and it is. If you read the excert below you will understand the imagery more throughly. I read about this particular Hindu goddess and thought she was so cool that I needed to do something which incorporated her in my art work. I also found this picture done during the victorian era of this young girl. I thought that it would be interesting if she had cut off her head like the goddess and was holding it in her hand. The reason that I chose embroidery for the exacution of this piece is because first of all it was a predominate art form in the victorian era, same as the girl. The other is the seeming opposition between the subject matter and the medium of embroidery.

The image of Chinnamasta is a composite one, conveying reality as an amalgamation of sex, death, creation, destruction and regeneration. It is stunning representation of the fact that life, sex, and death are an intrinsic part of the grand unified scheme that makes up the manifested universe. The stark contrasts in this iconographic scenario-the gruesome decapitation, the copulating couple, the drinking of fresh blood, all arranged in a delicate, harmonious pattern - jolt the viewer into an awareness of the truths that life feeds on death, is nourished by death, and necessitates death and that the ultimate destiny of sex is to perpetuate more life, which in turn will decay and die in order to feed more life. As arranged in most renditions of the icon, the lotus and the pairing couple appear to channel a powerful life force into the goddess. The couple enjoying sex convey an insistent, vital urge to the goddess; they seem to pump her with energy. And at the top, like an overflowing fountain, her blood spurts from her severed neck, the life force leaving her, but streaming into the mouths of her devotees (and into her own mouth as well) to nourish and sustain them. The cycle is starkly portrayed: life (the couple making love), death (the decapitated goddess), and nourishment (the flanking yoginis drinking her blood).

Hindu Goddesses:Visine of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Reigious Tradition (ISBN 81-208-0379-5) by David Kinsley

This is a authentic picture of the goddess Chinnamasta

Exposed

2007-02-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

So this was one of the pieces that I was working on before I got sick. It is Appliqued cotton on to this plastic styrafoam sheet. I think it looks especailly cool when in the window. This is one more pice in the series of vulva pieces that I've been working on. They almost remind me of jelly fish too. The plastic was really hard to work with but I think the effect was well worth it.

Security Blankets

2007-02-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

These are a set of pieces that I actually did back in November. They are composed of layers of fabric the top layer being a yellow mesh. Through this top layer one can see the stones which are trapped between it an the lower layers. The stones are set into place by the stitching that is around them. The reason I call these security blankets has nothing to really do with the conception of them. Kimberlee (a friend of mine) and I had been joking about how heavy of a piece it was and that you could actually use it to hurt people. It keeps the owner of the blanket secure, thus the name Security Blankets, even though they are to small to be any sort of blanket for anyone but maybe a baby. The real context for this blanket came from a conversation I had with Keren (my professor) about cancer and its implications.

Yea, more Devotional Cloth

2007-02-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

This is the first Devoltional cloth that I created. I wrote the Our Father nine times out on this long piece of cloth. Then I layered it together with batting and a piece of naturally dyed indigo cotten. I quilted underneath each of the lines of the Our Father. At the bottom of the piece there are three granny squares. These I got in some of the boxes of fabric from Dave's Grandma, I can only assume that she is the one who had made them. I thought they added a nice touch and fit the feel of the piece that I was going for.

I got the idea for the devotional cloths from these wonderful vests from Africa. The maker had written prayers from the Koran on the vests in order to provide protection for the wearer. I thought that was such a good idea that I thought it would be cool to see how it looked if I translated it into my own more western context. Since then I have been playing with this form and it has become so much more. I has become a way for me to knock down the barrior that we have created in our western culture between nature and religion.

Vulva Cloth

2007-02-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

Hail Mary Detail
Hail Mary

This was a project which happened to combine to ideas that I had been working on. The First idea was that of the Devotional cloths. One of the things that I like about these devotional cloths is that it is taking a western religious idea and mixing it in with a more primitive (I hate this word but use it for lack of a better one)nature based religious structure. I think that many times we use religion as a way of separating us from nature and our own more instinctive natures. These devotional cloths try to break down these arbitrary walls. The other idea that I was working on in this piece was that of cave paintings. I have always been fascinated by cave paintings and the simplicity of the shape. The shape of the vulva's on these pieces of cloth were inspired by those that I have seen in cave paintings.

Rough Sex

Rough Sex Detail

All of the vulva shapes were appliqued onto the layers of fabric.

Creepy Dolls

2007-01-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is a project that I have been thinking about for a very long time. I found these pictures of creepy dolls in a doll magazine that I got at the Palmer Library. I find these dolls very creepy. I've been wanting to deal with the things that scare me in my art, I think that is a very loaded topic. The other main topic that I've been dealing with has been protection so in a way these are the things that I need to protect myself from.

This close up shot, shows the stitching.

This close up shot is to show that both of these guys are stuffed. The technique is called Tripunto it is 3-d applique.

The las two weeks

2007-01-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

Love and Sex I

This is one of the pieces that I completed last week its made out of layers of fabric. I cut triangles in to the top layer of fabric so that one could see the layer behind it. Around the triangles, I sewed my own hair that I have been collecting out of my hair brush for a couple years now. This piece of artwork is supposed to have sexual connotations. The vulva like shapes almost seem to double as hearts.

Detail of the hair in Love and Sex I

Love and Sex II

This is the sister piece to the other. I took the triangle pieces which I had cut off of the other, and appliqued them on to the layered fabric. I notice that in painting, one can paint only one painting, but in the fiber arts medium, one must create a multiple of pieces.

Devotional clothes

2007-01-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

This is one of the new pieces which I finished before Christmas. I call them devotional clothes because, I have written prayers out on the fabric and then stitched around the words. This one here is quilted and backed with burlap.

This is a close up of some of the stitching.

I got the idea for these pieces from these great African vests that I saw. The vests were padded in order to provide the wearer from a certian amount of physical danger. At the same time though they had passages from the Koran hand written onto the fabric. These passages were to also keep the wearer from being hurt. I thought that was a facinating idea so I created these pieces with that same idea in mind.

Burn Blankets

2007-01-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

I know that I just posted yesterday, I promise that I'm not any everyday poster. I just had some time today while I was in the office and that I might post some of my old work. This work is very similar to some of the work that I'm doing currently. Fun Fact: All of these pieces were done while I watched documentaries about Egypt on the discovery channel. The Burn Blankets/Clothes as I call them are now part of the Sean Aube collection. I got the idea to create them after seeing these pieces of art work done by a women who first allowed fruit to rot on fabric and then she quilted around the areas that the rotting fruit had colored. I cannot think of her name but will try to have it in my next post with her web address if possible. I will also post some pictures of my new work on tuesday, the pictures I took did not come out but I will try to take some again. I would love to hear what you all think about them, so feel free to comment.

Here they all are hanging together, not a very good picture but it was hard with the sun shining in. These are all part of the show that I will soon be proposing to several galleries.

In all there are five of these in various sizes. They are in the Sean Aube collection.

Close up image of the large one, so you can see all the stitching.

This is the smallest and I think it is about 7" by 18".

The one above is by far the largest, I think that it is funny that it does not look as large in the photo.

I made all of these this fall before I had my Stitched together show.

My New Job

2007-01-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

So I started my new job on Monday...I'm now an artist. For those of you who don't know I just graduated in December, that is if the college decides not to screw me, I still have yet to get my diploma. I figured since I graduated that I might as well make the attempt to do what I was trained to do. The ability to do what I want to do, is great, but I miss school. I'm also going to have to figure some way of getting out of the house or I'm going to go stir crazy. I also have a piece hanging in the Internation Gallery of Contemporary Art,(IGCA) in Anchorage, not my own show, but the members show. Just thought all my fans out there would want to know. Side note: My spelling and grammer is horendus, so please try to see past that.