Carisa Swenson

-by Ryan Friant

Since 2006, Carisa Swenson has been creating art dolls which have been exhibited in numerous galleries from New York City to Los Angeles, as well as published in Spectrum 17.  She currently resides in New York.



W3D:  Can you describe your working process from start to finish?

Generally, I start right in with sculpting the head, hands and feet of the doll; only once finished with sculpting and painting the head and limbs do I begin creating the armature.  The armature consists of aluminum wire, with quilt batting wrapped around the wire to fill out the form.  A layer of foss shape is then sewn on, which when heated (using a heat gun), provides greater stability and keeps all the batting in place.  Usually at this point I have a pretty good idea as to what clothing the doll will be wearing, and swatches of fabric are cut out and pinned to the doll to get a sense of whether the colors and patterns will work or not.  Once the clothing is finished, details are added, such as buttons, whiskers or hair.


W3D:  What are the tools do you typically use in a piece?

Fingers, small paintbrushes, dental tools, needles.

W3D:  How do you recharge your "creative battery"? 

Whenever I need to fill the creative well, I head to the woods.  It doesn't matter how long I escape for- it can be an hour long walk, or a day-long hike; any time spent away form the city and surrounded by trees helps to refresh and inspire.  Wandering around museums, or used bookstores also helps. If none of those options are available, I'll settle for an hour or two of video games.

W3D:  If you weren't an artist, what else could you see yourself pursueing?

Something in the field of ornithology, perhaps an avian biologist.

W3D:  Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

Don't be afraid of constructive criticism.  Set aside time every day to practice or advance your craft. Even if you only have 15 minutes, MAKE TIME.  Don't fall into the trap of thinking you'll only improve if you set aside huge swaths of time to devote to your art.  Most likely those opportunities will be limited, so work with what you have.  I often wake up early before heading to my day job just so I can squeeze in an hour or so of sculpting time, since I tend to be most productive in the morning hours. Knowing I have to stop at a certain time helps me focus on the task at hand.

W3D: What do you do with the sculptures you’ve created?

Many of my dolls are looking for good homes and are up for sale at galleries in Los Angeles, most notably Cactus Gallery and The Hive Gallery, as well as Dollirium Art Doll Emporium in Canada. Dolls which return to me from shows are carefully packed up in boxes and kept in safe places within our home. Ideally, the dolls would be on display, but I just haven’t found the perfect cabinet yet!

Working in the 3rd Dimension would like to thank Carisa for sharing her art with everyone.  Below you can find a link to Carisa's website as well as a few of the galleries that she mentioned.

www.goblinfruitstudio.com, e-mail:  info@goblinfruitstudio.com

Cactus Gallery

The Hive Gallery

Dollirium Art Doll Emporium

All images © Carisa Swenson 2011

Margaret Cusack

Check out Margaret Cusack, an artist in Brooklyn who creates unique stitched artwork! Margaret told me, "Since I was a child, I have always enjoyed creating artwork. I had minimal art training in grammar school and high school, but was accepted at Pratt Institute and graduated in 1968 with a BFA cum laude degree in graphic design. In 1972, after working for four years as a designer/art director in advertising and publishing, I began exploring fabric collage--doing portraits, pillows and hangings. As an illustrator with an unusual technique, I had an agent for the first six years, However, since 1978, I have represented myself. My clients include AT&T, Aunt Millie's Spaghetti Sauce, Harcourt, Macmillan, Random House, Absolut Vodka, The Village Voice and Vanity Fair."

How or why did you start working dimensionally? 
I have always been intrigued with dimensional artwork and I am delighted to have been able to create a career with my appliquéd, embroidered and soft sculpture artwork.

What or who has influenced the way you work? 
I have always been interested in realism. Artists that have influenced me are: Norman Rockwell, Edward Hicks, Milton Glaser, Toulouse Lautrec, Edward Hopper, Grandma Moses, etc.

Please describe your working process.
With both my flat appliquéd artwork commissions and my dimensional soft sculptural images: I discuss the concepts and the project itself with the art director. Then I create pencil sketches and we discuss them. Once the sketch and the direction is chosen, I do a line drawing, which becomes my pattern.
For the flat appliquéd artwork: To show the juxtaposition of the fabrics, I create a "rough color paste-up" of the fabrics chosen for the image. I prepare the fabrics (ironing them and adhering iron-on "paper-backed fusible webbing" onto the back of the fabrics). I trace the outlines of the pattern's shapes onto the back of the fabrics. Then I cut out the shapes, peel off the paper backing and spray the back of the shapes with spray glue. Using the light box I position the fabric shapes onto a backing fabric and then iron them in place. I stitch them down with a zig zag stitch on my Bernina sewing machine. Usually, the image is stretched on canvas stretchers. Throughout this process, the art director can have input.

For the soft sculpture images like the "Bill Gates Voodoo Doll," I show sketches and fabric swatches to the client and then stitch the image and stuff it as needed. In some of the soft sculpture images, I include embroidery and or/other elements.  All of these techniques are included in my book, "Picture Your World in Apppliqué".  The photography is very important. 

My flat stitched artwork is photographed either digitally or as an 8 x 10 chrome (usually by Gamma One Conversions in Manhattan. Their process captures all the detail of the fabrics' texture and yet their lighting technique does not create harsh or uneven shadows).  I also work with my husband Frank Cusack and Brooklyn photographer, Michael Hnatov, who both shoot my dimensional images (soft sculpture, pillows, etc.) and some of my flat appliquéd  artwork.

What do you the enjoy most / least about working dimensionally?
Most: I enjoy the challenge of working with fabric--its instant color, texture, pattern. In many cases, my fabrics connect the viewer to nostalgic moments in their past. I like the fact that dimensional artwork will stop the viewer for a moment longer than traditional illustration or computer art.
Least: Fabric can be quirky and difficult at times. And though most of the time I have enough of a chosen fabric, there is always the chance that, at midnight, I might run out of a particular fabric or thread color that is crucial to the project.

Margaret Cusack
cusackart@aol.com
www.MargaretCusack.com

124 Hoyt Street in Boerum Hill
Brooklyn, New York 11217-2215
phone: 718.237.0145
cell: 718.909.4402
fax: 718.237.0145

All images and content © Margaret Cusack