Auteur: Isa Dahan

made summer 2022

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A3 BOOK

COVER

DETAILS

Embroidery pieces using imagery from old postcards.

This project is about celebration, nostalgia and gift giving. The imagery used are old postcards from my grandfather. Most of them were intended to be given as a birthday card, therefore sometimes having the word “Gefeliciteerd” on them, meaning happy birthday in dutch.

A thoughtful card can make or break a birthday gift.

By removing the cards from their paper format and transferring them into fabric I tried to create a different feeling to what a birthday card is. Not just a card you throw away but something you could hold on to, elevating the birthday card into a more permanent gift.

The embroidery represents the effort put into writing a birthday message. I am sewing the importance and thoughtfulness into the card. By following the lines of the cards I tried to emphasize the power behind the visuals on the card.

There were some complications when putting the cards on the fabric. Which made some of them extra dark. And also there are sometimes multiple cards printed over each other. Coincidentally making the work more abstract and anonymous, counteracting the personal aspect usually required when writing a birthday card. Making the works step more outside of the context of birthday cards, therefore creating a new gift, a fabric card, saying hello. The cards are trapped in the fabric, internalised forever, a permanent gift of admiration and congratulations.

EMBROIDERY TEST