Art-Sheep Features: Stephanie Clark And Her Embroidered Miniature Carpets

Stephanie K. Clark is a Utah-based artist whose paint is threads and whose canvas is her sewing machine.

After graduating from the University of Utah, Clark experimented with many materials and eventually found working with embroidery and thread drawing the most creative and imaginative practices of all. This unique way of “painting”, as she sees it, is transformed by the artist into various artistic forms, from imagery of houses to tiny carpets.

In her last series of works, Clark worked with her threads and fibers and created adorable, tiny carpets, with an exquisite attention to detail. Embodying cultures and artistic styles from all over the world, Clark created a series of miniature embroidered artworks that refer to the folk art of civilizations from Africa, East Europe and Asia. Through her work, Clark explores the relations between the traditional technique of embroidering with the contemporary aesthetics.

“My work is an ode and influenced by the worlds of tapestry and my love for craft. Using thread instead of oils has allowed me to bring new purpose to my painting process. My work blurs the lines between fine art and craft. I like to think I can reclaim the word “craft” which contains the idea of an unusual frame of knowledge and skill passed on from generation to generation. The use of craft such as embroidery fits my concept of domesticity, therefore my process and material becomes involved in the concept of my work,” she writes on her website.