Craftiness: Geometric Animal Portraits Adorned with Sculpturally-Stitched Blooms by Maria Arseniuk

Geometric Animal Portraits Adorned with Sculpturally-Stitched Blooms by Maria Arseniuk

Calgary-based embroiderer Maria Arseniuk adorns geometric-style portraits of animals with stitched bouquets and floral wreaths. Using pre-designed stencils, she heat transfers them onto cotton fabric and then hand-embroiders them with floss. The result is simultaneously graphic and tactile—her blooms have a sculptural effect, which are more pronounced when paired with the 2D designs. They’re colorful and playful twist on conventional portraiture. Better yet, some are available in Maria’s Etsy, Femmebroidery.

Maria started her online shop in 2014, as she was writing her dissertation in Women’s Studies. “I began embroidering women’s rights and queer related hoops,” she stated on Etsy. “As the shop has progressed and as I’ve grown as an artist, I’ve moved to encompass a broader subject matter in my art: from feminism to wildlife to popular culture to all kinds of custom orders from around the world. I am always looking for new ideas and striving to create new products with an ever-present commitment to social justice and intersectional feminism.”