Joanna Skumanich, Family Portrait, 2014

Family Portrait, 2014

Joanna Skumanich (b. 1982, Cleveland, Ohio) began her art career after receiving a BFA in Painting at Otis College of Art & Design in 2008. Working independently, her first commissions were illustrated album covers and academic books.  Growing up in the Midwest, she was heavily influenced by her late grandmother who was a seamstress and collector of fabrics and notions, which led to her embroidery practice in 2013. Joanna experimented with her own fabric collection, eventually having her first show at Marlborough Gallery in New York where she exhibited large-scale textile art.  Weaving the symbolism of her childhood with tactile craft to create fantastical tapestries exploding with texture and color, Joanna combines embellishments, paint, and textiles to articulate her memories through portraits and scenes that are both personal and imaginative.  This exhibition is an exploration of nostalgia, storytelling, and tradition.

Materials: Fabric, embroidery thread, cotton thread, cotton batting

Measurements: 65.5 x 91.5 in.