Art
Craft
#Cécile Davidovici
#embroidery
#portraits
#still life
December 15, 2023
Jackie Andres
All images © Cécile Davidovici, shared with permission
Through densely embroidered still lifes and portraits, Cécile Davidovici stitches together a dialogue between time, objects, and nostalgia. Focusing on gesture and color, the Paris-based artist uses short, expressive stitches to render melons, wine glasses, hands, and faces that glow by candlelight and sunset.
Evolving quite a bit from her previous works, Davidovici explains, “I’ve always wanted to do portraits, and I finally succeeded in a way that spoke to me by working and experimenting a lot with embroidery. I love the idea of pushing the technique to places it’s never been before.” After completing the series, she applied her new embroidery methods to still lifes.
Placing both modern and classical subjects next to each other, La Vie Silencieuse, or The Silent Life, questions what it means to make still lifes today in contrast to their popularization centuries ago. Created as a joint effort, the artist worked with David Citborsky, who first created 3D models of each composition. Davidovici then used these images to render each scene through copious threads, converging textures, and jewel-toned hues.
See more work and process videos on Davidovici’s website and Instagram.
“Jupiter”
“Le Poids des Choses”
“La Vie Silencieuse”
“Pluton”
“Marbre Vert”
“Pierre Bleue”
“Les Heures de Cire”
#Cécile Davidovici
#embroidery
#portraits
#still life
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