How do we combat the progressive smoothing of the artistic object? For Emma Safir (New York, 1990), the answer lies in relying on the sensorial qualities of textiles and pushing oppositional strategies and gestures toward new configurations and dependencies. The result is works of great mystery and material mastery, each a reflection on the elusive and ambiguous correspondences between the artisanal and the digitally (re)produced.
A former fashion designer and long-time fine printmaker, Safir leverages her intimate knowledge of clothing, traditional embroidery techniques, and decorative ornamentation into a complex and embodied artistic practice, in an age ravaged by superficial consumption and political decadence. Unconcerned with rigid divisions between fine art and decorative arts, between artisanal and digital processes, Safir seeks a strategy to counter commodification by employing techniques that cross media—specifically photography, printmaking, and craftsmanship—and traditions of material processing such as drilling, sewing, and, occasionally, digital manipulation.
