donna rhae marder uses her sewing machine as a sculptural tool. the charming little-girl-dresses below are fine examples of marder’s attention to detail and if you look a little closer, you will see that the material she sculpts is not fabric, but paper. marder’s splendid stitched paper sculptures boast social commentary and explore questions such as: how far apart can you spread fragments and still create a surface? see more of her dress series and read about the meaning behind marder’s art work here.
sewn photographs, papers, buttons
sewn teabag wrappers, buttons
I saw her work exhibited at the Fuller Craft Museum about a year ago. It absolutely blew me away. The intricacy, and apparent delicacy of the work is even more amazing in person. She even had a piece where she stitched together matches in an intricate patchwork. She certainly makes you think about the possibilities of the most humble of materials.
Donna’s work is wonderful. Some friends and I had the opportunity to see her work in an installation at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA (http://www.fullercraft.org/). If you ever have the chance to see her work up close I highly recommend it.