First of all, would you please introduce yourself to our readers that might not be familiar with you and your work?
Joetta Maue, artist at work. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue.
I am, Joetta Maue, a full time mixed media fiber artist and photographer, living and working in Brooklyn, New York. My work deals with the conflicts and contradictions within intimacy and romantic love. I mostly use found fibers and embroidery to create my work which helps place it in the domestic setting of the home.
I am originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. I received my undergraduate BFA in photography at Ohio State, I then lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for three years while studying and exploring mono-printing techniques. My MFA was received in 2007 from UMASS, Amherst where I began to explore using fibers more in my work and did my first embroidery. I now live in a Brooklyn, New York.
My formal training is in photography. During graduate school I began to explore ways to use my hand more in my work and as a result turned to embroidering text and language. This eventually led to me embroidering large scale drawings based on my photographs. Working with fiber felt like coming home as an artist.
When and how did you get interested in art making? What is your favorite medium for art and why?
I started to make art in high school- I had always been a very creative and hands on child and once I started taking art classes in high school, I knew that was what I wanted to be. I was particularly drawn to photography because of the need to slow down and look at things, to pay attention to small moments, shifts of light, and color. I also love being in the darkroom. After undergraduate, I started to explore printmaking and worked a lot in alternative photo processes. I missed getting my hands dirty and building the work myself. I took the opportunity of graduate school to truly explore myself as an artist. I went to a three year program, which allowed me to experiment freely throughout the first year. I decided to do an embroidery project as a metaphor for closing and healing, as I was interested in ending a long term body of work and beginning anew.
In process - Waking with you. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I had never embroidered before, little did I know that I would absolutely fall in love with the process and medium. I know find myself, less than four years later, working primarily as a fiber artist.
breaks my heart…, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 14 x 14"
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
My favorite medium is embroidery as I truly love the slow meditative process of the work. This specifically works well with my themes, as I meditate and work meticulously on drawing the nose of my husband, words of profound love and fear, and the arch of my sleeping eyebrow, allowing more love and intimacy to be built directly in the work. With that said there is nothing like printing a beautiful C-Print in a darkroom.
What do you do for fun besides making art?
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I am a yoga instructor and love finding time to explore my practice. Both my husband and I are avid readers and will often take a book up on our roof or to the park to hang out for hours and enjoy the sun. Or even better yet take ourselves to the beach!! Otherwise, my rare free time is spent enjoying my husband, friends, and family. With that said I still usually have a needle and thread in my hand. I am expecting my first child in April- so I imagine my fun time will change a lot with their arrival.
What type of job(s) have you had in the past?
I have had a number of jobs. I spent about ten years prior to graduate school managing two coffee shops, one in Ohio the other in Cambridge. And I loved it. The schedule and lifestyle was very supportive and conducive to my art practice.
I have taught a number of art classes through a variety of locations from undergraduate classes at UMASS, to craft centers, community centers, and through non-profits. I love teaching and embrace the opportunity to do it as often as I can. I particularly loved teaching college level art majors as they are so open to exploring art and the themselves. I hope someday life will lead me back to this. In the mean time I enjoy teaching classes to a variety of communities throughout New York.
I have also worked in the gallery system, at both a high level blue chip gallery and an emerging artists gallery. These experiences were invaluable to me as an artist as I learned excellent skills in running the business side of being an artist- and there is one! As well as learned to understand and appreciate the roll of the gallery. However, I do not think working in the gallery system long term is a good move for most artists as it is a career itself and demands most of your time and energy as well as can be discouraging.
Currently, what type of job(s) you do besides making art? Do you teach, write, curate shows, and/or manage a gallery? If so, please give us some details.
In process - Waking with you..., 2010, hand embroidered, appliquéd, and painted re-appropriated linen, full size bed installed on floor. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I am mostly a full time artist. Showing and selling my work around the country and overseas. I spend my days at work in the studio and on the computer attending to the business end. I also teach embroidery classes at a number of craft centers, teach with two non-profit organizations in New York, curate, and teach yoga.
Please tell us a bit about your embroidery drawings on antique linens. What are the thoughts and inspirations behind the creation of these drawings on linens? What is the specific message you strive to convey to your viewers?
I use all found linens to work on as I find the connection to the past, female voice, and domestic space very important. My work very much comes from a feminist tradition and voice, therefore I like being able to collaborate with creators and needle workers of the past and give them and their work a new voice.
I wish she were my best friend..., 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 18 x 18". Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
My words and images are all based on my own life and the experiences, often complicated, of being a lover, a wife, a daughter, a woman, and artist and all the contradictions these different roles have.
Comfort, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 4 x 4"
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I work very intuitively, coming up with words to work with all the time and taking notes in my notebook. My images are based on photographs of unstaged moments in my life.
I am so sorry, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 5 x 8"
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
Joetta's studio. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I hope the work speaks to the viewer about the challenging and complex emotional experience of being a human being. Specifically the moments of being truly vulnerable and truly joyful. Celebrating these moments equally.
So tired..., 2008, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 10 x 10"
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
Could you discuss a bit your creative process? How does it all start, what techniques and materials do you use? From where do you find your material?
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I usually start with the linen, which I find in antique stores, flea markets, and am often given. Often I will hang the linens in my studio for weeks or even months before I know what it wants to say.
In process... Asleep, 2009, hand embroidered, painted, and appliqued re-appropriated linen, 67 x 47", dimensions vary in installation. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue.
Once I have decided on the text I use a water soluble marker to write the text out. Then I start the slow task of embroidering. Wash, iron, and hang. I generally do not frame my works as once I put them behind glass they become more like an artifact and lose their vulnerability.
My image based work, usually starts with the image. Noticing it while I am living it, getting my camera and capturing it. Then I have the task of finding the right linen for the image. I usually try to relate the role of the linen in domestic space and the action of the image.
For instance an image of my husband sleeping might be embroidered onto a vintage pillow case. Once the linen is found I enlarge the image through various techniques, trace a contour drawing of the image onto the linen and the begin to embroider.
In process... Asleep, 2009, hand embroidered, painted, and appliqued re-appropriated linen, 67 x 47", dimensions vary in installation. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue.
In process... Asleep, 2009, hand embroidered, painted, and appliqued re-appropriated linen, 67 x 47", dimensions vary in installation. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue.
Sometimes, I add elements of fabric and applique into the drawing, sometimes I paint the image once the embroidery is finished. All of this is done very intuitively and often without a plan, by simply responding to the lines of the drawing, my materials in the studio, and my hands.
In process... Asleep, 2009, hand embroidered, painted, and appliqued re-appropriated linen, 67 x 47", dimensions vary in installation. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue.
What is the most interesting comment about your embroidery drawings you have heard from a viewer?
Since, I have a very popular blog, that discusses my work I have had many comments on it. Rarely, but occasionally people are offended by the work as I use very intimate language, acknowledge the existence of sexuality, and use cuss words.
In with you, 2008, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 36 x 32"
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
Fuck, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 11 x 11"
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
This generally amuses me and makes me feel like my work is successful in generating emotion. Otherwise, many people have commented very positively- most specially on how much they relate to the vulnerability in the work and technique.
Are you currently showing your embroidery drawings? If yes, when and where, and what can the viewers expect to see in this exhibit?
Little Boy Sleep, 2009, hand embroidered and painted re-appropriated linen.
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
My work is currently on view as part of a solo show, Waking with You, at Elizabeth A. Beland Gallery in Lawrence, MA through February 19, 2010. Waking with You, is an exhibition that features my work dealing with the place and subject of the bed.
Touch, 2008, hand embroidered re-appropriated linens, 50 x 22 x 17".
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
Asleep, 2009, hand embroidered, appliquéd, and painted re-appropriated linen, 67 x 47". Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
The work displayed is mostly from my image based embroideries but also includes a full wall of text and photographs from my online project waking with you.
Waking with you, online project, 2008. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
The blog project waking with you was a daily documentation of my bed immediately after I work up and text pertaining to the immediate emotions of my morning. You can see the project in its entirety at WakingWithYou.blogspot.com
Waking with you, online project, 2008. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
The bed is a very important space and subject in my work as it is a powerful and meaningful place within our lives, most of us are born in a bed, have our most vulnerable and intimate times in a bed, and most of us die there. As a result, I utilize the bed as place and metaphor in my work often. Since I am most interested in exploring the emotions and experiences of intimacy, the bed is a natural subject for me. This work is a culmination of projects done in the last 2 years that explore this.
Waking with you, online project, 2008. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
The center piece of the exhibition will be a bed size installation titled, Waking with You, of a large scale embroidery piece that for the first time combines my embroidered autobiographical text and images together on one linen. This piece was made specifically for the exhibit and is an exciting new direction in scale and sculptural quality that I am moving towards as an artist.
Waking with you, online project, 2008. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
The exhibit is a quiet and vulnerable installation exploring love and the potential loss of love. The opening reception has been scheduled for Friday, January 8, from 5pm to 7pm. All are welcome. Gallery is located on the first floor of Essex Art Center at 56 Island Street, Lawrence, MA. For additional information about this exhibition, please visit website.
I also have work displayed as part of the exhibit Connective Thread, a fiber exhibit that I curated currently on view at Sweet Lorraine Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. I also have work in the upcoming Fiber Art International and Designing Thread at Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts.
How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
Joetta at work. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I work everyday at it. No one talks about how organized and diligent you have to be as an artist to manage the business side of being a professional - or how incredibly time consuming it is.
Joetta's Studio. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I generally dedicate my morning hours to my daily posts on my blogs, responding to emails from clients, galleries, and places that I teach. In addition I dedicate one day entirely to researching and applying for shows, grants, and other professional opportunities. The best way to tackle this side of being an artist is being organized and diligent about your business practices. And you definitely get better the longer you do it.
Tell us about the awards and recognitions you received in the past years.
Home, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 10" round
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I was selected to be an artist in the online juried exhibit Four, at BECA Gallery, New Orleans, LA. Four artists were selected from online voting for the exhibition. I was awarded Best in Show at the exhibit Stitch Spectacular, Savannah Georgia.
I have been invited to participate in a number of exhibits throughout the country and abroad. I have been featured on a very large number of blogs as well as interviewed for online journals.
I was a guest speaker at the Hello Craft conference in Washington D.C and for the New York Outreach Program in NY, NY.
Most recently I was a featured artist in the premier issue of Needle Magazine. My work was also featured in a Lion Brand Yarn Studio article in Martha Stewart Living, January issue, pg 70.
Additionally, I am very excited to be a featured artist in the forthcoming book, Indie Craft, edited by Jo Waterhouse, out in the fall of 2010.
Are you planning any exhibitions of your work in the near future?
In the studio, part of At working thought installation, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen and found hanger, 45 x 18". Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I am always planning exhibitions and have a number of shows coming up both in the near future and farther future. I like to have thing on the horizon to keep me motivated and making new work. I am a finalist for a fall solo show in Brooklyn, New York and hope that I am selected. You can visit my website for details and link to any exhibits in the near future
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Artist at work. Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I see myself in many ways with a version of my current life, spending my days doing what I love- at work in my studio. I simply see my studio being larger, my work selling more, and having more ambitious work and solo shows. I also would love to someday have an administrative assistant to help out with all my emails and such. I hope that in less than 10 years I can have that. I will also be a mom in the next year and can imagine this will change my life as an artist and an individual greatly. I hope that in 10 years I am what I am now, a professional full time artist!
Would you provide links to articles and reviews about your work?
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
- SweetSweetLife.typepad.com
- LionBrandYarnStudio.com
- ScoutieGirl.com
- ArtfulText.blogspot.com
- Blog.FreePeople.com
- ThisIsLoveForever.com
- Katie-Anderson.blogspot.com
Are you available for commissioned works? Would you like to share your contact info with our readers?
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I do commissioned works on a regular basis. Most of my commissions have been text based works but I would be delighted to consider an image based commission. Please contact me directly for information joettamaue (at) gmail [dot] com
Do you have website(s) for interested readers to learn more about your work? Can we find you on art blog, flickr photostream, and/or short films on YouTube?
Overwhelmed, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 10" round.
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
Your top ten artists.
- Louise Bourgeois- i love, love her fiber works.
- Annette Messager- my favorite for years.
- Tracey Emin- for obvious reasons.
- Sally Mann- such incredibly evocative work.
- Bill Viola
- Kiki Smith
- Sophie Calle
- Ernesto Neto
What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
In process... Laying, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 22 x 10". Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
Be dedicated. Be committed, Be prepared for very hard work. Develop a tough skin because no matter how much praise you get you will also get criticism and rejection.
NETWORK!!! Keep your contacts and relationships with other artists, bosses, professors, and collectors organized and updated. Keep reminding them of all that you do.
Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your work?
Teaching me, 2009, hand embroidered re-appropriated linen, 9 x 9".
Image courtesy of Joetta Maue
I love creating my work and spending slow time with my thoughts, my love, and my hands. I hope you enjoy it too.
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