Flora and fauna in fabric paintings. Textile artist Annemieke Mein

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Australian textile artist Annemieke Mein called the founder of a new direction in art, namely, - textile sculpture … True, the name is conditional, and it would be more correct to call the artist's works volumetric paintings created in a mixed technique of applique, embroidery and painting. But even in this case, Annemieke is a pioneer, and today, relying on her talent and many years of practice, she writes books, conducts master classes, arranges presentations in order to convey the richest experience to young enthusiasts. And, of course, it continues to create its tissue magic. Annemieke Main's favorite subject for three-dimensional paintings is nature. The artist is interested in flora and fauna, in particular, insects and birds, which she loves to observe. First, she studies their behavior and habits in various situations, examines pictures in books on biology and zoology, and then reproduces what she saw in sketches with scientific accuracy and transfers it to the fabric. To achieve such a striking resemblance, the artist sometimes has to manually color the fabrics for applique and embroidery fabrics, cover the elements of the picture with numerous stitching-paths, cut the fringe, use pieces of fur, leather, silk ribbons, wool, felt and numerous shades of thread of the same color. As a result, the paintings are complex, multi-layered, and therefore so voluminous and realistic.

At exhibitions, people now and then try to touch the convex paintings of Annemieke Main to make sure they are actually three-dimensional, or if they are an illusion. Does the butterfly really have such soft velvet wings, or so it just seems. And is it true that the blades of grass, leaves and petals in the paintings are complex embroidery for many hours, and not a herbarium assembled and glued to the canvas. Of course, the author does not allow touching the paintings, lest they be inadvertently damaged. But for the most curious, she nevertheless created a separate picture, a voluminous butterfly made of dense fabrics of dark red and burgundy color, which can and even should be touched if you really want to touch the beauty. And grasshoppers, frogs, iguanas, birds and chicks, as well as other flying and jumping animals, remain untouchable and untouchable.

The best, most beloved and most famous works of Annemieke Mein were included in the illustrated book "The Art of Annemieke Mein: Wildlife Artist in Textiles", dedicated to the life and work of this talented artist.