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| RuStitch animation frame projection. |
Where did the time go? It's been weeks since the opening night festivities and performances at the Serving Face exhibition in Atlanta. What a beautiful and unique experience.
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| RuStitch animation frame, from behind, projected. |
The actual RuStitch animation by Aubrey was projected on giant screens in the open gallery space and it is stunning.
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| Threads dividing the gallery space after the closing performance by Lavonia Elberton. |
Aubrey created two animations from the 35 x stitch frames of the 35 participating artists -- one of the front side of the finished frames and one of the back. Both are wild explosions of color and facial expressions.
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| In the gallery. Frame 10 (left) by Tricia Hersey-Patrick, and Frame 11 (right) by me. 2013. |
When Aubrey first explained that each artist would work from his or her own color palette, I wondered about the fluidity of the finished piece. Well, it is so appropriate and perfect for the energy of RuPaul.
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| Lavonia Elberton leading dancer in for the final performance. (Aubrey is the tall man in the background in snakeskin.) |
I was particularly moved by the closing performance of Lavonia Elberton, who was featured in her own embroidered animation, a solo piece by Aubrey.
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| Still from the Lavonia Elberton animation by Aubrey Longley-Cook, 2013. |
Lavonia is (at the moment) a bearded drag queen and a textile artist in her own right. She stitched a RuPaul frame and created and wonderful performance art piece to close the evening, leading dancers holding balls of thread/yarn into the space. The dancers flitted about the space, dividing the gallery goers into small, intimate groups made out of triangles of thread. It was a wonderful way to create a stolen moment of intimacy with strangers, pressed as we were into each other, the thread binding us together.
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| X stitch animation frames in the gallery. |
I am proud to be a part of the project. Insanely proud to be a part of the embroidery as art world. To be included in the boundary-pushing creativity of a project that effortlessly entwined digital animation, live performance and community artwork.
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| Me being goofy excited before leaving for the opening. |
Aubrey is a special man. A special artist.
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| With performance artist Tricia Hersey-Patrick in front of our frames. |
Now I'm hungry for more opportunities to work with other textile artists in person. Starving.