Artist Hadar Sobol's Edgy Embroidery...At left, the moving book by Ukranian-born Israeli writer Alona Kimhi that helped inspire Sobol's first forays into art. Weeping Susannah is the

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Artist Hadar Sobol's Edgy Embroidery

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Page 1 of 14Houses Gardens People: Artist Hadar Sobol's Edgy Embroidery

3/27/2011http://www.housesgardenspeople.com/2010/09/artist-hadar-sobols-edgy-embroidery_05.ht...

Hadar Sobol at her Studio in Salina, TX

A stitch just in time...embroidery is not an art usually associated with gritty self

expression, but artist Hadar Sobol's embroideries on vintage linens and on paper are full

of jagged emotion. From a few feet away, it's easy to mistake them for pen and ink sketches.

Up close, there's no doubt about it, Israeli-born Sobol has command of her needle and

thread as if her life might depend on it.

Because in a way, it does.

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I started following Sobol's work a little more than year ago, after being invited to visit her home

in Plano and later her studio in Salina, TX, where she had been working to prepare for her first

one-person show at Valley House Gallery. Her show, Kairos (the Supreme Moment),

opened on Saturday and runs through October 2.

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Sobol, who is from Tel Aviv, moved to Plano almost 10 years ago with her husband

who was transferred with his job. Pregnant with her first child (she now has two)

and struggling with the English language, Sobol became increasingly isolated. Art

became the way out and the way to survive, and she started expressing herself

through a medium she was most familiar and comfortable with -- embroidery.

Those simple black stitches pack a lot of power.

The themes in her work focus on the burdens women carry throughout life -- from

bearing children to obsessions with body image, especially as we age.

"My work draws its inspiration from the narrative of a woman's inner voyage,"

Sobol says in a statement that accompanies her work. "During this voyage, as she

confronts the changes in her life, she finds that in addition to experiencing pain

she is provided with the opportunity to recreate herself."

D U X I A N A

I D C O L L E C T I O N



Embroidery on vintage cloth by Hadar Sobol

At left, the moving book by Ukranian-born Israeli writer Alona Kimhi that

helped inspire Sobol's first forays into art. Weeping Susannah is the story of a

woman's struggle to learn to express herself, to live, and to love. Sobol has her

own story, and it's expressed in her art. At right, the tiny farmhouse in Salina that

Sobol converted into her studio.

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"These images are transformed by the use of the reverse side of the embroidered

cloth, digital manipulations and moving between different techniques, drawing,

embroidery, etching, digital processing, and computerized embroidery," Sobol

says.

The works above and below were created by digitally reproducing the reversed,

unfinished side of the embroidered cloth onto paper, then washing it with ink and

water.

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Houses Gardens People is a blog

about Dallas interiors,

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Sobol sometimes embroiders onto the paper itself.

This is a collage of photos I took from Sobol's house and also her studio, months

before her show. She displayed her work for visitors by setting up a half dozen or

showrooms, stores, and the

talented people behind the

scenes. Written by award-

winning design writer Rebecca

Sherman.

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so ironing boards, which she liked for their flat surfaces. It was an expedient

choice, she said, but so full of unintended irony -- what better way to show

embroidery on linen, especially when the subject matter has to do with women's

work?

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The painting on the floor at left is an early work Sobol did of her grandfather.

At left, Valley House Gallery owner Cheryl Vogel, who made regular

pilgrimages to Sobol's house and studio during the past year as the artist prepared

for her show. I was privileged to tag along on two of these trips, and impressed by

the way Cheryl and husband Kevin Vogel nurture their artists' careers. Kevin's

father Donald Vogel founded Valley House Gallery in the late 1950s.

"Some artists come to us with their whole body of work already completed and all

we have to do is build a show around it," Cheryl says. "Others, like Hadar, we have

more of a chance to work with and follow along. It's really a wonderful

opportunity to get to be with them from the beginning." Pictured at right in the

white coat is Liliana Bloch, director of the McKinney Avenue

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Sobol also produces original videos to accompany certain pieces, which she plays

via a digital picture frame underneath embroidered vintage linens.

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The videos are beautiful works of art, blurred and mysterious depictions of nude

women who are obsessively fussing over their lumpy, misshapen bodies. Sobol's

models were wearing panty hose, which they stuffed with wads of cloth until their

hips, bottoms, and stomachs, looked huge. It's all shot and viewed as if behind a

veil, maybe as if we are peeking from behind a curtain, as the models attempt to

arrange and rearrange their bodies, their burdens.

Sobol gives an artist's talk on Saturday, September 11 at 11:00 a.m at the gallery.



POSTED BY REBECCA SH ERMAN AT 1 : 39 PM

LABELS : ART , BOOKS , PEOPLE , PROF I LES , WHAT ' S NEW

6 C O M M E N T S :

Sally@DivineDistractions said...

Wow! I fancy myself as a pretty good needleworker, but these are incredible!

She has totally pushed the envelope for her art, and the results are amazing.

Can't wait to go see her show. Thanks for introducing us to this new art form

and brilliant artist.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2010

amanda said...

Sobol's work has a haunting movement...it reminds me of a sculptor I

covered in St. Louis who works in wire... But, they aren't sad depictions...not

at all. They stick with you. They tell stories. They are elegant and grand, but

have a humble, even earthy quality. I absolutely love needlework and

textiles...to see a modern take such as Sobol's is excellent!


JoAnn Locktov said...

This work is incredible,unlike anything I've ever seen before. Thank you so

much for sharing it with us Rebecca.


smallrooms said...

Oh my GOSH! Her work is so unbelievably exquisite! I am fascinated with

how traditional female crafts have evolved into contemporary art. Taking

antique tactile goodness to a new level. Ten years ago, it seemed that all the

new contemporary art involved electronic media--usually videos. And that

any work involving textiles, embroidery, knitting, antique knick-knacks were

held in huge disdain. Rebecca, thanks for bringing Hadar Sobol to our

attention.

Patsy Ann Bell

TUESDAY, SEPTEMB ER 07, 2010

Houses Gardens People said...

Sally and Patsy Ann --

Thank you for taking the time to comment. You're so right about how

traditionally female crafts have for so long been held in disdain. Hadar's art

seems to be changing some of that perception....



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TUESDAY, SEPTEMB ER 07, 2010

amanda said...

I have a frequent debate with my husband on art vs. craft. He dismisses my

efforts as mere craft (he has a degree in art...what do I know?). As an avid

sewing enthusiast, this is ART. Big "A" art. Sobol's work pushes the very

barriers of needlecraft, and is a blessing to behold.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMB ER 09, 2010



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Artist Hadar Sobol's Edgy Embroidery...At left, the moving book by Ukranian-born Israeli writer Alona Kimhi that helped inspire Sobol's first forays into art. Weeping Susannah is the