Anna Lucia contrasts traditional references of women's rich and detailed craftworks with her own reductive and minimal processes, creating generative artworks that blend the digital nature of their creation with a celebration of their decorative roots.
This series of generative artworks specifically explores historical needlework samplers – pieces of cross-stitching often created to showcase needlework skills and talents or used as a reference for future embroidery, with patterns sewn randomly onto the fabric. For 33 million, Anna Lucia interprets the decorative patterns commonly found on these samplers into algorithmic works that simultaneously construct and deconstruct decorative aesthetics, transforming them into rhythmic digital artifacts.
Each piece is individually selected by the artist, leveraging the algorithmic randomness of the art's code to rapidly explore different aesthetics and possibilities for novel patterns. For this series, she developed additional software that translates the digital works into custom patterns for machine stitching. Each artwork in this series can take the form of embroidery on stretched canvas – reducing barriers between craft, art, and automation.
This work is created with p5.js, Processing, and PEmbroider.
Digital artwork + embroidery on stretched canvas
22.9 x 33 x 3.8cm / 9 x 13 x 1.5in
The original purchaser of this artwork can claim the physical canvas from @annaluciacodes on X with payment of shipping costs.