a conversation between two friends separated by one state, sharing the same passion for the art of knitwear.

knitorious is an archive for knitwear designers, knitwear students, knitwear lovers and even the knitwear curious.

5.31.2011

painting with light

Miroslav Tichy | Untitled | Undated | B/W photography on carton

I got the chance, just about a year ago, to see a collection of Miroslav Tichy's photographs
at the International Center of Photography here in NYC. I was captured by the images,
ideals, and methods to the way Tichy lived at worked. The body of work on display
was from his wanderings throughout Kyjov (communist Czech at this time) during the 60's
and 70's. Very strongly opposed to the modernist infatuation with newness and progress
as well as the communist state throughout this period, his work became
personal pleasure amid public repression.

"The artist devotedly wandered the streets, compiling a meticulous photographic
archive of Kyjov. He mainly photographed the local women; curvaceous contours
of body in motion, captured moments of sartorial revelation, smooth calves truncating
from underneath full skirts, and remote utterances muttered between intimate sororities.
He honored women in bikinis, becoming a regular of the periphery of the local
swimming pool, photographing from the other side of the fence, the metal mesh dissecting
the surface of his images. He worked with a homemade camera that he fashioned
from used materials, such as shoe boxes, rubber bands and tin cans, complete with
makeshift telephoto lenses, polished with toothpaste and ashes.
Tichy would then print on a homemade enlarger.

He would subsequently adorn certain prints with pencil marks, highlighting the
contours of a form, or decorating the edges with colored cardboard borders,
until the works were spilled scatteringly onto the floor, some used as beer mats,
some nibbled by rats."

"I explore every atom. That makes me an atomist." -- Miroslav Tichy

Miroslav Tichy | Untitled | Mixed media on photograph

Tichy | Untitled | Undated | B/W photography on baryta paper,
on blue paper, on carton

Tichy | Untitled | Undated | Silver gelatine print

Tichy | Untitled | Undated | B&W photography on baryta paper
in a passepartout

Tichy | Untitled | Mixed media on photograph

Tichy | Untitled | Mixed media on photograph

Tichy | Untitled | Undated | Mixed media on photograph

Tichy | Untitled | Undated

"These days there are plenty of artists who take photographs. They have modern
digital equipment and the best computer software. They try to make their pictures
look crude. They want something like a document of reality. But can you believe a
30-year-old university graduate? Does he really know what is crude? It is simply
impossible, especially in comparison to Miroslav Tichy. He lurks in a horrible coat
and -- from behind bushes and walls -- takes photographs of fragments of female nudity
or the steps of a woman walking down the street" -- Roman Buxbaum,
who introduced Tichy's work to the world.

Unfocused, not well developed and damaged by weather and careless handling,
never meant to be exhibited and, even now, Tichy objects to the success and fame.
He chooses the people he talks to and shares his opinions with. He has described
exhibitions as a waste and says this world is no more than "a double shit."

5.26.2011

Chanel Resort 2012




I loved this bit! The pale color, the hem lengths, knit polo-type tops/sweater sets
with a dainty flower print all worn with these amazing black sandals!


Entirely flattering one-pieces!

A few more looks I really liked...




Chanel | Resort 2012

5.25.2011

living bird

Picked this up yesterday in a waiting room and found these photos of
wooly Laysan Albatrosses on Midway Atoll to be real inspiring!

Living Bird | Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Summer 2010
Photos by Cliff Beittel

Midway Atoll, one of the most isolated places on earth, is midway between Japan
and San Francisco. Midway was the site of one of the greatest naval battles in history
(June 4-7, 1942) and is one of the ten Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (or Leeward Islands)
stretching 1,300 miles west-northwest of the eight main Hawaiian Islands.

Midway is the largest of the Leewards, the only with permanent human residents,
and the only one open to the public. Like the others, it was once a volcano,
perhaps 3,000 feet in elevation. Now just three low, sandy islands-- Sand, Eastern,
and Spit-- remain, surrounded by a coral reef five miles in diameter growing on the
shoulders of the submerged peak.


Two young Laysan Albatrosses sit at their nests in front of a WWII
artillery piece on Eastern Island.

I like the idea of a wooly, matted texture, green grass color, and blue sky played against
hints of naval/military influence of years past. While keeping images/ideas of volcanic
activity/coral reefs and many miles of ocean in mind too.

A nesting colony on the interior of Sand Island.
The young birds sport brown, wooly-looking down.

This guy was on the back cover, I just love his pattern!
(kind of similar to wycelf's cap in the video below too heh)

5.20.2011

Do Ho Suh

Do Ho Suh is a sculptor and installation artist born in Seoul, Korea in 1962.

"Do Ho Suh leads an itinerant life, hopping from his family in Seoul (where his
father is a major influence in Korean traditional painting) to his work in New York.
Migration, both spatial and psychological, has been one of Suh's themes, manifested through
biographical narrative and emotionally inflected architecture. Best known for his
intricate sculptures that defy conventional notions of scale and site-specificity, Suh's
work draws attention to the ways viewers occupy and inhabit public space. Interested in
the malleability of space in both its physical and metaphorical manifestations, Do Ho Suh
constructs site-specific installations that question the boundaries of identity.
His work explores the relation between individuality, collectivity, and anonymity."

Staircase

Cause and Effect

Reflection


Net-Work


Paratrooper


High School Uni-Form


Some/One


Floor

Karma

5.19.2011

yesterday's walk


Some of the beach glass Frank and I collected yesterday,
at a spot we discovered down on the river near Astoria Park.
Now I'd really like to get a diamond drill bit, then I can start combining some of these
beautiful fogged glass pieces (especially the teeth-looking ones) into some
jewelry, or something to be worn in the hair maybe.

5.17.2011

making up for lost time today


It's been a while!
I'd say the big news this week is that I have finally finished this felt top! I decided against
the sideseam lace-up a while back, and thought maybe instead I'd do two rectangular
panels that would snap in and out at the sides. Then, I felted the shoulders together
Sunday night and gave it a try on... and here you have it! I fell in love with the way it rests
with no side closure. Something to layer over other things, I'm pretty proud of this one!

Also in the works:
1. Updating my website with sample-work photos, new sketches & experimentation
in accessories. And after a successful photo shoot session yesterday, with much
help from Frank Podesta (who snapped the photos) I've definitely gathered some great
material for the cause. A few of these will be up hopefully today some time.


Hudson Valley lace shetland yarn and tonal wool roving knit-ins



Bartlett tubular yarn/Hudson Valley shetland combination in the button-back
cardigan. I found these amazing stone barrel-type beads to serve as buttons!

Close up of that needle felted elbow patch


Red acrylic blended poncho worn with Icelandic loopi/shetland lace blended
motorcycle jacket


2. Etsy shop is also on the way! I know I've been saying this, but I have set up my account to
sell goods and my paypal as well... so its happening y'all!! That being said, I suppose this
here post also serves as a sneak peak preview sort of thing, since most of these items
will be for sale! I may hold off on the sweaters for a bit, they mean so much to me,
but I will eventually share them too!


A few nice shots of the barnacle scarf :)


Three different chokers
mixed materials


One choker, one triple strand necklace


Three necklaces

3. I sort of ruined my portfolio last week while being overzealous with a
Chartpak marker... so, I'm making a better one. Figured I'd try to do the layouts
digitally this time around... We'll see how that goes. I'm working on edits to
my new sketches now, so look forward to that post tomorrow!