Jennifer Markowitz
Lost Edges I
2020
hand embroidered on silk
7" x 9"
$800
There are three hand- embroidered figures on silk in various states of wholeness. The silk is a light gray on the left side and a dark, but dull green on the right side. All figures appear to be facing away from the viewer, with white skin, dark hair, and each wearing white dresses. Moving from left to right across the silk, the first figure is the least whole with missing arms, neck and head. This figure is grounded with two feet on the bottom edge of the silk. The second figure is higher on the silk, to the right and towards the middle. This figure is more whole, but still missing part of her head. The third figure is on the far right edge of the silk and is the most whole, fully embroidered.
Lost Edges II
2020
hand embroidered on printed silk
8" x 10"
$700
There are two figures hand embroidered on gray silk. The edges of the figures are nearly identical and take up the majority of the composition . The figures vary greatly in the color of the stitched thread, the density of the stitching and the amount of negative space (in this case, holes in the fabric) contained within each figure. The figure on the left is comprised mostly of stitched contours, or outlines, of the figure. There is minimal stitching on the interior of the figure, but what is there is red and is net-like near the right shoulder and linear in the center of the figure. The figure on the right is stitched on the interior, with the exception of the top of the thighs, genital region and lower stomach. That space in the figure is empty. The remainder of the figure is heavily embroidered with small, black stitches.
ECT 2018
2020
hand embroidered on deconstructed cotton pillowcase with 3D moths hand embroidered around wire
10" x 20"
$1000
Detailed image description for ECT 2018
ECT2018 is embroidery and wire on a standard size white pillowcase. In the top right corner of the pillowcase we see an embroidered one inch square Duke Health shield logo, a stylized letter ‘U’ that is solid outline on the left of the letter and fork-shaped prongs facing upright on the right half of the letter. Underneath this logo embroidered vertically are three words: Duke University Hospital. The logo and lettering are in Duke royal blue.
Just left of the center and near the top of the pillowcase is a large chaotically embroidered, partly singed oval. It is the outline of a face that is cocked slightly to our right. At the top of the oval head, one at noon and the other at 10 o’clock, are two nodules of densely bundled black wire. From each, extending to the left, is a single thin wire that kinks and curves until it ends dangling in space over the left hand side of the pillowcase.
The face is pockmarked with stitched outlines in white thread of insect and moth parts. The eyes and almost closed mouth of the face are burn holes edged with seemingly random hand stitching. From the mouth come four wire butterflies. These butterflies are wrapped in thread and the wires hold them off the surface of the pillowcase. The shapes are precise and accurate. Two of the butterflies include the delicate veins one might see in real life paper-thin insect wings.
Four more butterflies seem to be in flight from the mouth up to the Duke Health logo in the upper right. One small gray butterfly seems to be escaping off the top edge of the pillowcase just above the two wire nodules. Most of the butterflies are white but one on the forehead, two near the mouth and one flying towards the logo are deep red.
From the mouth a series of small gray singes curve down to the bottom right hand corner of the pillowcase where there are two burn holes. In between the last singe and the thumb-sized burn hole are the stitched initials and date, “JLM ‘20”. Directly underneath the head is embroidered three lines of text. The first line reads, “Electroconvulsive therapy.” The second line reads, “(ECT)”. The last line reads, “March 2018.”
Written by Jan Tu, Arts Access Audio Describer
About Jennifer
I use thread to map the geography of being lost. I am transfixed by encounters with absence and presence. Specifically, I’m gripped by the mysterious traces our bodies leave behind and how embroidery can reveal those private terrains.
My textile and fiber art has been shown at Frank Gallery, CAM Raleigh, Dayton Society of Artists, St. Louis Art Guild, Block Gallery, VAE, The National Humanities Center and the Weems Art Gallery. I'm a two-time recipient of the United Arts Career Development Grant and was the 2020 Emerging Artist Resident at ArtspaceNC. I was also a Brightwork Fellow at Anchorlight where my first solo exhibition, “Fleshmap: My Bipolar Embroidered Geographies”, showed in November 2019.
Before turning to textiles, I spent 25 years directing environmental theatre throughout the US, Scotland, Ireland and Israel and England, where I received my M.A. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Warwick. I have taught Embroidery techniques, Psychogeography, Performance Theory, Site-Based theatre and Postdramatic Theatre in the UK at the universities of Warwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Portsmouth and Plymouth. In the US, I taught at DePaul University, Columbia College Chicago and University of Notre Dame.
I currently reside in Raleigh, NC but one never knows where I might be next.
All images and text belong to Jennifer Markowitz, except where noted.