found objects | Mr X Stitch

Aidan Sofia Earle is a mixed media artist from Brooklyn, NY. She has worked professionally as a fashion textile dyer and painter, puppet and prop designer builder, carpenter and artists assistant, experiences that have informed her intuitive approach to her own art practice, working with a wide range of materials and techniques. Here's what she has to say: "Man made objects accumulate in many ways. Things are collated and stacked, piled and flushed, bundled and lined-up. We have numerous approaches to organizing our belongings and our waste. Even the forces of nature come into play in the way objects are accumulated. The gyres of trash in the oceans, the accretion of items on shorelines, these discarded items, small and large, have transformed landscapes. "From the streets of my environment I gather and accumulate discarded items. As a magpie chooses its treasure I collect the left behind objects of daily life. Physically stitching the objects together I think of the accumulation as story quilts, each item carrying its perceived history while becoming part of a new whole." This is fascinating stuff. We've seen other instances of people working with found objects; Donna Sharrett's mandalas are a terrific example of this concept. Aidan's work takes this to a whole new level. The range of materials used is remarkable; the complexity of the pieces is intense. I suspect you could lose a lot of time studying each piece in detail... I think this is really exciting work and I hope it inspires other people to upcycle and fuse objects and stitches in fantastical ways. For more of Aidan's work, visit her website. ----- The Cutting (& Stitching) Edge is brought to you in association with PUSH: Stitchery, the contemporary embroidered art book curated by Jamie Chalmers. Featuring 30 textile-based artists from around the world, it's a must have for needlework fans.