Cuddles
This piece was created for the Thrift Store Re-do artist call, where the challenge was to purchase a thrifted artwork for under $25, modify no more than 30% of it, and, if framed, retain its original frame.
While traveling, I wandered into a Goodwill without any intention of buying art. But then I saw this piece—it made me laugh. It was macabre and gothic, with a strange charm that I couldn’t ignore. I walked past it at first but found myself doubling back. The heart at its center immediately brought Edgar Allan Poe to mind, and an idea struck: I would incorporate a sculpted, three-dimensional heart with tangled threads, inspired by Frida Kahlo’s The Two Fridas and Henry Ford Hospital.
Back in my studio, I reinforced the original print, which had been loosely pinned inside a shadow box. I then sculpted a heart from oven-bake clay, layering paint to create depth and texture once it had cooled. Before baking, I added small openings to allow thread to pass through. Using metallic red thread, I wove strand after strand through the heart, allowing them to twist, knot, and spill outward, draping onto and over the frame—blurring the line between artwork and object, emotion and material.
This piece was created for the Thrift Store Re-do artist call, where the challenge was to purchase a thrifted artwork for under $25, modify no more than 30% of it, and, if framed, retain its original frame.
While traveling, I wandered into a Goodwill without any intention of buying art. But then I saw this piece—it made me laugh. It was macabre and gothic, with a strange charm that I couldn’t ignore. I walked past it at first but found myself doubling back. The heart at its center immediately brought Edgar Allan Poe to mind, and an idea struck: I would incorporate a sculpted, three-dimensional heart with tangled threads, inspired by Frida Kahlo’s The Two Fridas and Henry Ford Hospital.
Back in my studio, I reinforced the original print, which had been loosely pinned inside a shadow box. I then sculpted a heart from oven-bake clay, layering paint to create depth and texture once it had cooled. Before baking, I added small openings to allow thread to pass through. Using metallic red thread, I wove strand after strand through the heart, allowing them to twist, knot, and spill outward, draping onto and over the frame—blurring the line between artwork and object, emotion and material.
This piece was created for the Thrift Store Re-do artist call, where the challenge was to purchase a thrifted artwork for under $25, modify no more than 30% of it, and, if framed, retain its original frame.
While traveling, I wandered into a Goodwill without any intention of buying art. But then I saw this piece—it made me laugh. It was macabre and gothic, with a strange charm that I couldn’t ignore. I walked past it at first but found myself doubling back. The heart at its center immediately brought Edgar Allan Poe to mind, and an idea struck: I would incorporate a sculpted, three-dimensional heart with tangled threads, inspired by Frida Kahlo’s The Two Fridas and Henry Ford Hospital.
Back in my studio, I reinforced the original print, which had been loosely pinned inside a shadow box. I then sculpted a heart from oven-bake clay, layering paint to create depth and texture once it had cooled. Before baking, I added small openings to allow thread to pass through. Using metallic red thread, I wove strand after strand through the heart, allowing them to twist, knot, and spill outward, draping onto and over the frame—blurring the line between artwork and object, emotion and material.