I missed the most recent exhibit at the David Nolan gallery but wish I had seen it. Did you? It featured drawings by 2 female artists, one in her early 40′s  and one who lived in the 2nd half of the 20th century. They both create interesting drawings inspired by the cultural identity of the female and the objects woman identify themselves with.

Victoria Gitman’s highly detailed and almost photographic drawings and paintings of small beaded clutches are incredible. The detail she includes is amazing down to the sheen and reflection of the little glass beads. I imagine they are pretty awesome to see.

The press release states this about the work:

Victoria Gitman explores fashion accessories as embodiments of desire and seduction through painting. Earlier in her career, she created paintings of women’s jewelry; for this exhibition, she has chosen vintage purses as her subject. Gitman selects the purses for their geometric, abstract patterning as well as color. Echoing formal tropes of Modernist abstraction—grids, rectangles, stripes, swirls—Gitman’s paintings evoke the spirit of Sol Lewitt produced with the painstaking realism of Netherlandish painting…Through inviting the viewer to a closer look, Gitman brings to the fore a kind of pictorial desire and makes the courtship between picture and beholder a central axis of the work.

Ramberg’s work, part of the pop art world, is inspired by manuals and comic books, breaking down the “process” of being feminine.

I always love work that is not fiber techniques but inspired by fiber objects, such as these. One of my favorite pieces I ever exhibited was a simple photograph of a ribbon and a painting that I deeply covet of a worn out patterned couch. The “image” of these banal everyday objects often bring just as much power to the work as the actual fabric itself would. The drawings of Gitman are not at all the banal but of special, delicate, vintage clutches brought out for the most special of moments and the most exaggerated times of femininity and to me the small delicate drawings of them bring so much MORE weight then the actual purse would – the critique and the careful eye of the artist really has one investigate the purse itself but also the idea of the purse itself.

See more images form the exhibit here.

More work by Victoria here.

Until next time keep your needle threaded.

Joetta Maue is a full time artist, arts writer, and curator primarily using photography and fibers. Her most recent work is a series of embroideries and images exploring intimacy. Joetta exhibits her work throughout the United States and internationally, and authors the art and craft blog Little Yellowbird as well as regularly contributes to Mr. X Stitch.