Abstract Stitches: Embroideries by Mariska Karasz
In Hungarian, embroidery is called Kézimunka, which, literally translated, means handwork. By and large, embroidery has become just that. Handwork . . . done with the hand, but not with the heart; worked without thought or emotion. And this should not be so, for the beauty of fabrics and fibre, their thinness or thickness, smoothness or coarseness; those endless varieties of color in harmony or dissonance deserve to be brought together with more than just the work of the hand. The relating of background to thread and stitches can become not just an exercise in manual skill, but an exciting expression in texture; an expression of mind, emotion and inner joy.... Mariska Karasz, 1950 *
The images in the web site are from Modern Threads: Fashion and Art by Mariska Karasz by Ashley Callahan, Curator, published by the Georgia Mueseum of Art, University of Georgia. The book was published in conjunction with an exhibit of Mariska Karasz's work at the Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts January 20-April 15, 2007 George Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia.
*Mariska Karasz, exh. broch. from Abstractions with Thread at Bertha Schaefer Gallery, December 26, 1950–January 13, 1951, collection of the artist’s family.