Anthony Stevens. Black Holes And Black Friday (2 But Not 2)

About

As a child, Anthony Stevens was already surrounded by textiles. Years later, he decided to use a needle and thread as his form of creative expression. His work is made distinct by  figurative  and  comic  style  portrayals  that  are  embroidered  on  his  chosen  fabric  and partly sewn together with many layers, out of many different pieces of fabric.

His visual perceptions are playful and full of subtext that can be deciphered by the written
comments  that  compliment  the  figures. The  artist,  who  has  studied  Nichiren  Buddhism, explains that he sees the images in his mind’s eye while chanting the mantra, "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo." Roughly translated, the meaning is: "I devote myself to the supreme law  of  the  universe."  During  his  embroidery  work  process,  the  motives develop  several levels  of  meaning.  They  convey worldly wisdoms  or  formulated  criticism,  e.g.  consumer behavior  in  "Black  Friday."  In  the  visual  world  of  Anthony Stevens  one  can  find  the amusing,  the  wondering,  and  the  threatening,  as  in  the  recurring  motives  of  a  dog,  a crowned bird, of penises or combat boots and hand grenades in "Brute Force."

As work material the artist quite intentionally chooses scraps of fabric or stripes and sees himself in the position to find potential in what may seem useless or beyond repair. With this decision, the autodidact sees a very important parallel to his own partly traumatic lifeand  experiences,  which  he  realizes  in  his  works,  and  describes  as  "dancing  with (his) inner dynamics" - always in search of a constructive rhythm.