Allison Manch
Artist Statement

My work features thematic illustrations of love and personal history via hand-embroidered drawings and text. The imperfection and vulnerability of the embroidered line resembles the fragility of human emotion, while the medium harks back to a seemingly distant past. Threading a sense of humor throughout, drawings and text are stitched onto handkerchiefs, tea towels, and tablecloths that are often adorned with preexisting machine-embroidered imagery.

My aesthetic derives from a long-standing personal experience with the medium. My mother taught me embroidery as a child and my grandmother was a skilled lace-maker. This body of work started when I began crudely embroidering personal narratives and music lyrics onto cotton handkerchiefs inherited from my grandmother. While the work is not directly diaristic, the pieces are highly personal in their concept and execution. I draw from song lyrics, family photos, and figures from popular culture stitching imaginary lines to meaningful events in my life.