Cayce Zavaglia received her Master in Fine Arts in painting at Washington University in 1998. Her artworks are included in collections from the Schoeni Gallery Hong Kong, the prestigious West Collection in Pennsylvania and the The Ria and Lex Daniëls Collection at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, Holland, to name a few. She has produced six solo shows from Miami to St. Louis to New York City. Zavaglia credits her exhibition Recto/Verso at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis (2014) as a pinnacle experience, which spurred her on to exploring more large-scale works and breaking the boundaries of portraiture.
"I was originally trained as a painter, but switched to embroidery 18 years ago in an attempt to establish a non-toxic studio and create a body of work that referenced an embroidered piece I had made as a child growing up in Australia. My work focuses exclusively on the portraits of friends, family, and fellow artists. The gaze of the portrait toward the viewer has remained constant over the years and in my work...as has my search for a narrative based on both faces and facture. The work is all hand sewn using cotton and silk thread or crewel embroidery wool. From a distance they read as hyper-realistic paintings, and only after closer inspection does the work’s true construction reveal itself.
Over the years, I have developed a sewing technique that allows me to blend colors and establish tonalities that resemble the techniques used in classical oil painting. The direction in which the threads are sewn mimic the way brush marks are layered within a painting which, in turn, allows for the allusion of depth, volume, and form. My stitching methodology borders on the obsessive, but ultimately allows me to visually evoke painterly renditions of flesh, hair, and cloth.
A few years ago, I turned one of my embroideries over and for the first time saw the possibilities of a new image and path for my work that had been with me in the studio for so long but had gone unnoticed. It was the presence of another portrait that visibly was so different from the meticulously sewn front image…but perhaps more psychologically profound. The haphazard beauty found in this verso image created a haunting contrast to the front image and was a world of loose ends, knots, and chaos that could easily translate into the world of paint. This discovery led to a “return to paint” in my work and the production of a series of intimate gouache and large format acrylic paintings of these verso images. Highlighting the reverse side of my embroideries, which historically and traditionally has been hidden from the viewer, has initiated a conversation about the divergence between our presented and private selves. The production of both Recto and Verso images is now the primary focus of my studio work".
© 2021. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Cayce Zavaglia. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only
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| Ms. Cayce Zavaglia |
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Dad, 2007
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Fabric with Acrylic Paint |
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| Dad verso |
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Martina, 2009
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool and Acrylic on Linen |
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Teo, 2010
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool and Acrylic on Linen
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Martina, 2011
Hand Embroidery: One Ply Cotton Embroidery Thread and Silk on Raw Natural Linen
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| Martina verso |
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Raphaella, 2011
Hand Embroidery: One Ply Cotton Thread and Silk on Raw Natural Linen
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| Raphaella verso |
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The Welkers, 2012
Hand Embroidery: One-Ply Cotton and Silk Thread on Raw Belgian Linen
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| The Welkers verso |
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Darbi, 2013
Hand Embroidery- One-Ply Cotton, Silk, and Wool with Acrylic on Belgian Linen |
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Florence, 2014
Hand Embroidery: One-Ply Cotton and Silk Thread on Belgian Linen with Acrylic
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| Florence Verso |
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About-Face Archival Unique, 2015
Inkjet Print on Canvas with Wool and Cotton Hand Embroidery |
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Raphaella in her Winter Coat (After Alex), 2015
Hand Embroidery: Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic Paint |
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| Raphaella in her Winter Coat (After Alex) verso |
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| Raphaella in her Winter Coat (After Alex) close up |
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Uncle Angelo, 2015
Hand Embroidery- One-Ply Cotton and Silk Thread on Belgian Linen with Acrylic Paint |
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| Uncle Angelo verso |
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Lorelei, 2016
Hand Embroidery: One Ply Cotton and Silk Thread on Belgian Linen with Acrylic Paint |
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| Lorelei verso |
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Luca, 2016
Hand Embroidery: Wool and Cotton thread on Raw Belgian Linen |
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Annie in Her Mom's Winter Hat, 2017
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic |
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| Annie in Her Mom's Winter Hat verso |
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Bruce, 2018
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic
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| Bruce verso |
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Julie, 2018
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic
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| Julie verso |
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Matt, 2018
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic |
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| Matt Verso |
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Orlando, 2018
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic |
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Emmylou, 2019
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic |
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| Emmylou verso |
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Luca, 2020
Hand Embroidery: Crewel Wool on Belgian Linen with Acrylic |
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2021 Unspoken, 2021
Hand Embroidery: Acrylic, Vintage Needlepoint, Pom Poms, Beads, Sequins,
and Costume Jewelry on Raw Belgian Linen |
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