Stitches

Creator

Alex Apella

Description

"My great-grandmother Berta, from Hungarian Transylvania, taught her four daughters to embroider; just as generations of mothers before her had learned from their mothers. As I grew up, the embroideries of my great-grandmother, along with those of my grandmother and great aunts punctuated our home, grounding those of us living in the United States in the traditions and expressions of our ancestors’ homes. Here in Argentina, where two of my great-aunts settled, and where Berta herself passed away, the homes of offspring also are enlivened with this link to our identical heritage. In the newer generations, across the continents, the ability to embroider, design, sew—the ability to express oneself—has expanded and evolved just as our grandmothers’ designs and embroideries expanded and evolved in their new homes. The stitches not only hold us to our heritage, they inspire us into our futures. All scans of original Hungarian embroideries and patterns used for the collages are from our family's personal collection, as are the family photographs." - Alex Appella

Publisher

Transient Books, Alex Appella

Subject

Family, ancestry, heritage, culture

Extent

8 x 8 inches

Style

Flat back binding.

Material

Colorspot Nieve paper, ink

Technique

Full-color collages printed on an Epson Ink Jet Printer

Date

2008

Other Information

This ongoing numbered edition was begun in October, 2008 in San Antonio de Arredondo, Córdoba, Argentina. More information can be found here: https://www.alexappella.com/stitches and here: http://www.vampandtramp.com/finepress/a/alex-appella.html

Recommended Citation

Apella, Alex, "Stitches" (2008). Rollins College Book Arts Collection. 35.
https://scholarship.rollins.edu/book_arts/35

Exhibit Location

This work was featured in the Cornell Fine Arts Museum as a part of the exhibition “Common Ground: Selected Works from The Rollins Book Arts Collection” from September 18, 2021 – December 31, 2021.