Connecticut based artist Alaina Varrone approaches the medium of embroidery with a folk artist’s touch with the humor and sensibilities of Monty Python. Her images of sex, death, and joy have the look and texture of unfinished Americana, a Comedy Central show laid out in graphic and macabre stitches.
There’s a love in her portraits, a desire to play along and be a part of it all. Part self-portraitist, Varrone is unguarded and raw, willing to let her life and beliefs be seen by the audience.
ET:You work in both embroidery and paints. Does one offer advantages the other one doesn’t? When you have an idea for a design, how do you choose whether to paint it or stitch it?
AV: It actually comes down to time. I paint faster than I stitch, so those pieces are therapeutic in releasing immediate feelings and ideas, and it’s satisfying to finish something in a few days. I consider my embroidered works-in-progress roommates; because they take so long to complete, the piece changes as my life changes.
Although sometimes the decision is based solely on how cool it’d look stitched. It’s still such a burgeoning art form that something stitched is still innovative compared to it just being painted.
I think you bring a unique and awesome perspective to embroidery, a classic folk art form. How did it become your favored medium?
Aw shucks, thanks! It actually became my favored medium immediately after trying it. My first time, I was just drawing Botticelli’s “Venus” on a scrap of fabric in my freshman drawing class in college (that was 2001!), but I made her plump, and it just sort of hit me that I should embroider her. I learned more techniques over the years but I’m still all about stitching nudes to this day.
The human body is so rad, how could you improve on something so perfect, right? Plus embroidery is still a challenge for me, so I stay engaged.
What’s your process like? Do you do a lot of sketching before you start a piece? Do you just go freestyle?
It starts out with an initial sketch, but I leave certain parts blank, like facial expressions and details. And I always end up changing it, so that first sketch is very rough. The pieces that are primarily satin stitches require lots of planning as I go along. Deciding what colors, tonal value, that’s all drawn onto the fabric right beforehand.
My latest works-in-progress have taken a much more blatantly autobiographical approach. I’ve literally put my body into stills from porn videos I watch. They’ve become an erotic diary of sorts. I went through a painful break-up this year, and these are coming from a place of deep loneliness. Part fantasy, part memory. They’re my most personal pieces yet....
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