Textile Anatomy

Where textile art meets human anatomy!

Shannell Papp, Lab (skeleton), detail

Shannell Papp, Lab (skeleton)

Canadian artist Shannell Papp created Lab (skeleton), a complete, full-scale crocheted model of the human skeleton and organs. She writes, "I was pretty serious about making a very exacting replica of the human body. There are parts of the work that nobody sees–the brain has gray and white matter, the bones have marrow, the stomach has half digested food in it. I made it to understand my body better and I think this is why people like it," in  this interview. She has also made other textile works, whether crochet or embroidered, about human anatomy.

Shannell Papp, Bonebook (detail)

Shannel Papp, Bonebook and Blood Pools

Another Canadian artist was working on knitted and embroidered works about human anatomy in the late 90s. Sarah Maloney made these beautiful embroideries and knitted sculptural and multimedia works.

Sarah Maloney,
Knitted Arms, Shoe Forms, Gloves, 1997,
variable dimensions, multimedia, Photo: Ned Pratt

Sarah Maloney, Brain, Knitted cotton, stainless steel armature
35.6 x 35.6 x 152.4 cm
1988-1989, Photo: Paul Litherland

Sarah Maloney, Skeletal System,
Embroidered cotton on silk
305 x 112cm
1998-99, Photo: Geoffrey Gammon

Sarah Maloney,
Vertebrae, Sacrum, Coccyx,
Knitted cotton, stainless steel armature
36x 36 x 189 cm,
1998-99, Photo: Geoffrey Gammon

Sarah Maloney,
Circulatory System
Embroidered cotton on silk
305 x 112cm,
1998-99, Photo: Geoffrey Gammon

Similarly, LA-based artist Ben Cuevas has produced a knit skeleton and various organs and blood vessels.

Ben Cuevas, knit skeleton

Ben Cuevas,
Knit Veins: Fiber of Our Being

Some fibre artists are creating anatomical works about anatomy on an entirely different scale. Consider the 'macro' work of New Mexico-based artist Betty Busby. (Do, check out her portfolio. I'm in love with her dinosaur skull quilts).

Betty Busby, Neurotic 36x42

Betty Busby, Purkinje 37x44"

Betty Busby, Retia 60x45

 
 The neurons might be something most can identify in 'Neurotic'. Likewise, Purkinje refers to a class of neurons located in the cerebellum. 'Retia mirabilia' are a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other, found in some vertebrates. Purkin

Textile Maps

Map art is one of my favorite things. I'm always gathering examples. I define it broadly to include any art map with maps, or of maps, artistic cartography, and the art of what is mappable. Today, I'm sharing a subset of what I've found: the maps made with textiles (especially map quilts and embroidery).

Haptic Lab, Great Lakes quilt

Haptic Lab, Paris quilt

Haptic Lab makea variety of wonderful quilt maps and kits so you can make your own. I think of the Great Lakes as home (though as a Canadian, I think they are missing the boat by only annotating the American side).

They've also made some lovely city map quilts and kits, including the ones for Paris and Boston, shown.



Former urban planner, Kathryn Clark made a series of 'foreclosure quilts' depicting bird's eye views of neighbourhoods with the foreclosed properties marked. She writes, "It was important to me to present the whole story in a way that would captivate people’s attention and make a memorable statement. Making map quilts seemed an ironic solution. Quilts act as a functional memory, an historical record of difficult times.  It is during times of hardship that people have traditionally made quilts, often resorting to scraps of cloth when so poor they could not afford to waste a single thread of fabric."

Kathryn Clark, Detroit Foreclosure Quilt, 22" x 44" Cheesecloth, linen, cotton and quilting thread.

Kathryn Clark, Cleveland Foreclosure Quilt, 2011. 25" x 60" Cotton, linen, recycled denim and embroidery thread. 

Kahryn Clark, Chicago Foreclosure Quilt, 2013. 31" x 42" Linen, cotton and embroidery thread.

Leah Evans uses appliqué, reverse appliqué, piecing, natural and synthetic dyeing, needle-felting, hand printing, and a variety of embroidery stitches to make her quilts, based on aerial photography, maps, and satellite imagery, though they may not be consciously based on specific places. The results are organic and beautiful.

Leah Evans, Estuary

Leah Evans, Development

Leah Evans, Isthmus Nocturn

Leah Evans, Tundra

See also Ian Hundley and his fabric map quilts.

Ian Hundley and his fabric map quilts

As described previously, Steele and Tomczak created Street of Heaven, a stitched, embroidered map of Toronto and specifically, Yonge STreet for STITCHES.

 

Steele and Tomczak, Street of Heaven

 

Other amazing examples I've found of embroidered maps include:

 

IÑIY SANCHEZ’S SUSTAINABLE EARTH SWEATER

Nicola Searle, Memory map of a route in my hometown, St. Albans.

Heidi Weiss
Flood Map (October 19-23, 2009), cotton thread on linen. 7" x 11"

Embroidered Buenos Aires map for travel guide cover. By Rita Smirna.

Anatomical Decor

I've noticed a trend of artists and designers employing human anatomy in things we use to decorate our homes: wallpaper, textiles and so forth. Consider, for instance, Wallpaper Number One (2006) by Shannon Wright, which is a stylized version of... our uninary tract, of all things.

↬trendhunter

Or the Anatomical wallpaper by Kari Modén for Swedish pharmasy Vårdapoteket:

↬ PopTech

Gabriel Valdivieso Interior Design worked with artist Jonny Macali, to create a paper that features flamingos, human bodies and flowers in this custom wallpaper:

ᔥ design sponge

Or consider the 'Soft Cover' quilt by Katrin Rodegast:

"Soft Cover” (200 x 250 cm). Contemporary quilt; printed cotton, appliqués and fleece filling. It is coated with a pattern of 270 illustrations observing the social reality. "

Or the 'Flow' chairs are from AK-LH, which depict the circulatory system:

↬ Apartment Therapy

Etsy seller and printmaker Sara Selepouchin of girlscantell delights in diagrams, including one of heart, she's printed on tea towels:

For more, check out the blog Street Anatomy which has an entire 'Interior Design' section.