Normally photographs are the end result of the work, as the work for the image was surround setting it up and the process of taking the photograph and working the camera. However for Maurizio Anzeri the photograph is the start of the process as he does not take the photographs himself, but he stitches onto old photographs. His final work still has the identity of being a photograph and having a person as the subject but then are developed to become three dimensional, causing the use of the term ‘photo sculpture’ that is used to describe his artwork.

He creates intricate embroideries on images, which can sometimes cover the entire face or be very minimal, he also tends to use coloured threads which contrast the neutral tones of the old photographs. The faces can be covered using a variety of hand stitching techniques, with crossing lines and curves and circles. He beautifully ties the old/vintage portraits together with the traditional needlework, but adds a modern twist with the use of bright colours and abstract stitches. The antique appearance of the photos also contrasts the silky thread that has been stitched into the harsh lines on the surface, as the past and the future come together.

The end result has created a mask for the portrait, entirely hiding or changing the identity of the subject and the image itself. His work takes discarded, old photographs (remnants of another time, another life about which we know nothing) and transforms them into modern works of art, covering or emphasizing the history held within them. He transforms the portraits into something completely different, a form of two dimensional sculpture or geometric artwork. The embroidered patterns give the people ‘elaborate costumes’ but can also be thought of as that the persons feelings or thoughts are being portrayed.

Anzeri does not take the photographs himself and actually has no effect on the photographic process, he tends to look for vintage portraits in flea markets and junk shops. His opinion of the images is that they are “landscapes on which to map out my own unique geography of suggestion”.

Anzeri finds that he develops passionate relationships with the work and the different people that he works with. This creates narratives about the work which can overlap and bring in aspects of the past, present and future. His work is so detailed and intriguing as it has developed from a love of the images. He says “I started to collect portraits because I had a passion for them”. This love then became the work that has come from the images. Even when travelling, he still tries to collect more photographs from markets or second hand sales to then transform these into more pieces of art.

Photographs are extremely fascinating to Anzeri as it is a visual and physical representation of that one moment that can be manipulated in many ways to give a different perspective on the moment. He says, “When we all look at a photograph, we somehow believe that we look at the trust or at some kind of reality but we know that it’s not, it’s just a moment. We all still look at it as if it’s real. It’s trapped in there and it’s like you managed to cast some kind of magic spell on that piece of paper to entrap some kind of reality to use and reuse every time you look at it.”

The photographs that he uses still hold the memory of something from the past and are a physical representation of this, however this is not his view when using the portraits for his artwork. “I don’t want to be nostalgic. When I work on them, to me they become very present. The catch is that at some point these photographs were, to some people, really important and suddenly they ended up in a box.” To me, his work therefore represents all times, the past through the old portrait, the present through the process of his stitching, and the future about peoples interpretations and views about his work. It is thought that he wants to release the person from the image and let the character escape the two dimensional form, as he leaves a part of the person visible whereas all the other parts become something completely different due to the embroidery.

“I work with sewing, embroidery and drawing to explore the essence of signs in their physical manifestation. I take inspiration from my own personal experience and observation of how, in other cultures, bodies themselves are treated as living graphic symbols. I then use sewing and embroidery in a further attempt to re-signify, and mark the space with a man-made sign, a trace. The intimate human action of embroidery is a ritual of making and reshaping stories and history of these people. I am interested in the relation between intimacy and the outer world.” 

“I put tracing paper over the photo and draw on the face until it develops. ……When I begin the stitching something else happens, drawing will never do what thread will.”

His work is in a similar style and process of that of Julie Cockburn, who also uses the hand embroidery to distort old portraits, however her work is viewed as more childlike. (pictured above)

Examples of Anzeri’s work…