Layering fiber like a painter layers brush strokes, French artist Cécile Davidovici achieves a seemingly impossible level of depth in her embroidered masterpieces. Davidovici began her career as a writer and filmmaker before settling on a more tangible art form: textiles. From afar, the hues of her hand-stitched pieces seamlessly blend together to fool the eye; up close, one discovers hundreds of small stitches combining to create an effect reminiscent of the impasto technique (the thick layering of paint to produce a textured effect) made famous by none other than Van Gogh. 

In her recent series, “Portraits of a constant dream,” Davidovici creates a landscape of skin that reveals not a shred of negative space on the canvas. By meticulously intertwining her threads, Davidovici is able to reinterpret faces, simultaneously enhancing and blurring her subject’s features much the way an impressionist painter might. In addition to her signature, close-up portraits, Davidovici has explored landscapes, still lifes, and mixed media creations, all of which leverage her unique style of embroidery—the common thread which runs across her exquisite body of work.

You can check out their latest projects on Creatively here.

What is the first creative project you remember? 

I remember building a very complex pencil box set with cloudy light blue gift wrap, toilet paper cardboard, and a few match boxes around maybe the age of five. In my head, the final product was incredible but it was probably terrible.

Describe your aesthetic in three words. 

Transparency. Touchable. Intimate.

What was the most fulfilling collaboration you’ve worked on?

I co-created a series of three pieces called “La saison des feux” (“fire season”) with David Ctiborsky. I loved it because it challenged and changed my whole process of creation. I learned so much during the making of those pieces and I loved working with David. He has such a different approach than mine. It’s very interesting how our creative worlds complete one another’s.

What’s one creative project that taught you something fundamental about yourself?

My first series called “project <<1988”, where I embroidered images from my childhood VHS videos that my parents filmed, taught me a great deal and gave me the confidence to move forward with my work. 

Do you think creativity is something you’re born with, or something you’re taught?

Both! Some people are more gifted than others from the start, but it’s what you do with it and how you’re taught to embrace it that makes the difference, I think.

What’s the last dream you had?

I was with my mom and we were trying to win some sort of cuisine competition; I was cooking like a mad person. A very restful dream… 

One hundred years from now, what do you hope people write about your work?

I would love to have brought something to the contemporary art table in terms of the perception of textile and embroidered art. It’s still under the radar today and I hope it will evolve and become an established art form like painting.

Follow @CecileDavidovici on Creatively

Creatively is more than a platform—we’re a creative collective. 

Questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@creatively.life