Zoe Buckman’s work challenges not only conventions about equality and feminism, but also the forms that art can take. Learn what inspires her vision, and check out her favorite Kingsley Rowe frames.
Zoe Buckman is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist who works in textiles, photography, sculpture and installation. She recently had a solo exhibition at New York’s Garis & Hahn gallery and participated in the revelatory Africa’s Out benefit at the Gladstone Gallery. We talked to Buckman about her visionary work and her favorite artists.
I work across different disciplines including sculpture, neon, photography, installation, and embroidery. My work has tended to explore ideas around mortality, feminism, and equality-- with my latest body of work, Every Curve, an installation that explores the complicated relationship between Hip-hop and Feminism in my upbringing.
I decided to take lyrics from Biggie and Tupac tracks that refer to women and hand-embroider them onto antique lingerie. The garments hang on invisible thread creating an installation that the viewer can walk through, stopping as they please to take in the stitched text.
I love Hank Willis Thomas, Wangechi Mutu, and Toyin Odutola. I am lucky to call these people friends too. I'm also a huge fan of Sophie Calle, Kiki Smith, and Taryn Simon.
I started doing some hand-embroidery when I was about fifteen. I was self-taught and only used it to embellish my jeans and stuff like that... I then re-learned it two years ago when I decided that embroidery would be the most effective way of displaying the very masculine text in a historically feminine way. The practice of embroidery and quilting is deeply rooted in Feminist art as well as the every day lives of many women throughout history, so it feels like the right medium for Every Curve.
