Client: Liz and John Couluris

Overview

When Liz and John Couluris bought their new home there was a 13 1/2′ by 9 1/2′ wall of 96 individual empty wood frames. The home was previously owned by record producers, this wall must have been for their record collection. Liz wanted to incorporate a piece of art and hired me to create a fiber piece.

Goals

The integration of the existing frames was the most important aspect of this work. I am known for photo transfer work on fabric and though I originally thought that would be significant here, it turned out that the photographs got lost in the space. The wall unit takes up the entire area and is the central expression of the home. I had to rethink again and again what would work here. I do love parameters and when I figured out the pieces had to fit succinctly into each frame, I had to test out many pieces of cardboard in order to make it work. The first layer of fabric is the design piece, the second is batting. These were quilted together and then sewn onto the cardboard.

Process

Liz likes to recycle elements that exist in her home. On this commission I worked with Liz to tweak the colors a great deal. John is a rocket scientist so his input came when I was working on the moon. It had to be the correct shape and dimensions for his very refined eye.

Additional Information

One of the joys of working with these clients was the very integrated process. Austin, their two year old son gave me the greatest compliment when I placed all the pieces into the frames one day, he said "WOW".