PhD Candidate
Cornell University
Department of Communication
Uphill/Downhill
Artist: Vico Vecchiotti
Affiliation: Staff
Medium: Embroidery and applique on cotton
Artist Description
The green lines represent routes I take often—to and from work, to and from my cardiologist and physical therapist, and to and from the ER—while the white lines represent a partial topographic map of the area. Since I cannot drive, I am beholden to bus schedules, walking, or using rideshare apps. Though I only live a five-minute drive from my place of work, my commute is usually between 30 and 45 minutes (or 5 minutes but it costs me $30). Basically, getting anywhere takes longer and uses more energy, or else it takes the same amount of time but costs more money, and no matter what option I use, I still end up exhausted, so I lose even more time as I recover.
Visual Description of Piece
Dark green patterned fabric with thick lines embroidered in light green and thin topographic lines embroidered in white. There are beads and rhinestones attached.
Notes from the art creation process
Dark green patterned fabric with thick lines embroidered in light green and thin topographic lines embroidered in white. A woven couch peeks out from the background.
A hand holds up dark green patterned fabric with thick lines embroidered in light green and thin topographic lines embroidered in white. A woven couch and pillow lie underneath in the background.
An unfolded napkin sitting atop the patterned fabric with thick lines embroidered in dark red and thin topographic lines embroidered in white. A long piece of white thread sticks out from a topographic line in-progress.
Additional text
Embroidery can be incredibly tedious, which is part of why I chose it as my medium: Traveling to and from the same few places every day is also very tedious. For my travel routes I used the backstitch, which is a very wasteful stitch. You use twice as much thread traveling the same distance, much like moving while disabled uses more energy.
