Izziyana Suhaimi

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images from here. 

"I am interested in collapsing the boundaries between traditional and popular cultures and exploring the links that exist between these two. My work examines how this particular mishmash manifests itself in modern times, especially concerning modern youths. Preferring to work with craft-based techniques, I am attracted to the evidence of the hand and its time-consuming aspect, which runs counter to the instant gratification and mass-production centred age of today."

-Izziyana Suhaimi

Discovered via Textile Arts Center's blog, Izziyana's embroidered drawings are absolutely stunning. Her vision blurs together fashion, art, and craft in such a unique manner. I especially love the backs of her work, being able to see how such chaos can support such beauty.

Color Me Hooked

"seems like every Monday morning, I've got the blues

and every Tuesday i get some bad news,

Wednesdays worse cuz i aint got a dime to my name,

i done worked so hard all week, Thursday my bodys racked with pain

(here comes the good part) 

friday the eagle flies, and so do i..."

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My sketches from last weekend. Go download "Take a stroll thru your mind" by The Temptations, sit back, break out the colored pencils and back issues of National Geographic, and find yourself a different reality on this Monday afternoon. You'll be surprised at what you might find.

Seriously, the song will put you in another world. Lyrics from The Temptations "Take a Stroll Through Your Mind" (except that last drawing, thats from The Animals "I'm Mad Again"

I've been running a little behind on posting my drawings recently, but there has been plenty of drawing going on! Most of these were inspired by a little jam called "Electricity" by a little band called Captain Beefheart. So heres my sketchbook, some electric neon, and even a bright yellow floral shorts suit!!?? Just trust me, scroll down. There's even a music video. 

All drawings done by me. 

tank from pixie market, necklace from StudioHx3

Opening Ceremony dress via La Garconne, Creatures of Comfort floral suit

image via wild at heart, Thea Porter vintage caftan via Keep Feeling

Anntian scarf via Creatures of Comfort

Love Letters...

Dear SAGA SIG, 

Your photos are always beautiful, but this time you crossed the line. Your latest work is shockingly good, like offensively impressive. Keep it up. 

all images via the neverending story. this last photo is from one of my favorite editorials, an article on blaxsploitation in a magazine called Peacocks and Pigeons. I didn't even know it was her photos until I saw them on her blogs yearly re-cap, i'll be sharing the rest later. 

Buzz me Baby

I've gotten a little backed up with showing my drawings on the blog, so get ready for a flood.

Florence and The Machine played on SNL with Florence in this dress. Love at first sight. 

on a completely different note, i found this beautiful piece of work from 1915 at the thrift store recently, it's quite interesting for an almost 100 year old book.

Turns out it was published by one of the presidents of the New Thought Movement, which it seems is like the precursor to what is now the self help book movement. Its all about the power of attraction, minus all that materialistic "imagine yourself behind the wheen of your brrraaaaand neeeew caaaaar!" or "you deserve that diamond necklace!" Elizabeth Towne also published the Nautilis, a magazine associated with the movement. Love the covers of these, too. 

Mummy, I want a python!

Some recent drawings i did of jewelry designer Maria Francesca Pepe's Lookbook. I was so drawn in by the way the snakes integrate with her body, and the use of all black clothes to really showcase the jewelry. It's almost as though the jewelry itself were the clothing and the black just an extension of the female form. 

Go take a look at her product catalogs, too. I love how she takes a concept and just runs with it. You can see the themes running through her collections for multiple seasons, the snake being a very clear continuation on a theme. 

Dead Supermodels

Did a bunch of drawing this weekend, what better way to save money on a model than to draw her? So here it is, some of my jewelry on the infamous Donyale Luna. If you've never heard of her, look her up. While her real lineage is uncertain, she claims to be Afro-Egypitan, indigenous Mexican, Indonesian, Irish, and Native American, really a woman of the world (which i can clearly identify with). Unfortunately she passed at 33, but her face is pretty much etched into my brain by now. or sketched. tee hee.

"If there is anything in the world of high fashion more vulnerable to whim than clothes, it is the models who wear them. They seem to emerge from nowhere, sparkle brilliantly, then plunge into Stygian darkness,* the victims of too much deja vu. Now rising into ascendancy is a new heavenly body who, because of her striking singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season.

Donyale Luna, as she calls herself, is unquestionably the hottest model in Europe at the moment. She is only 20, a Negro, hails from Detroit, and is not to be missed..."

The Luna Year -Time Magazine, 1966