American textile artist Charlotte Schmid-Maybach’s photo tapestries are based on nature, in particular trees. Originally trained as a photographer, she stitches onto her beautiful photographs giving them a three dimensional almost sculptural effect. “I like to think that my work is creating artefacts of tomorrow.”

Where are you based?

I’m from San Francisco and moved to Los Angeles over twenty years ago when I started my job as a photojournalist with the L.A Daily News. Now I’m a full time artist and have a studio a fifteen minute drive from home. I used to have a home studio space and still have a folding table set up in the living room sometimes, but at my own studio I can leave all of my stuff out and make a mess, and it doesn’t bother anyone.  And there are less distractions and more privacy.

What is your background in textile art?

During my undergrad at UC Berkeley. I was involved with the Berkeley Art Studio and took a lot of different art classes there. I did photography, print making and also had a table loom at home. I started cutting my photographs into strips and weaving them with threads into the loom. Photography was my main focus but even back then I was trying to integrate fiber.

In early 2017 I started going to a weaving class every Saturday. There are five floor looms and two Saori looms, and seven of us working in this tiny studio with our teacher Fumie Omiya. Unfortunately we’ve had to stop due to the pandemic but hopefully this will resume next year. Fumie and the class reignited my love of textiles which  helped me take the leap to sewing on photographs.

What is it about textiles as a medium that appeals to you?

There is something about the physicality and feel and look of textiles that I’m just drawn to. When I sew on paper, the threads intertwine with the photograph and create a layered and multi-dimensional object. I love the bumpy, sparkly, thick cloth feel of the final piece.

What is your process?

I take a digital photograph and print it on my inkjet printer onto a type of photo coated Japanese paper. The paper has a very natural colour to it, it isn’t brilliant white and when I print it the image looks softer. Then I paint on a thin layer of liquid medium to protect the paper from the sewing process and from UV light. 

My first pieces were sewn by hand, a few lines in selected places, but a few years ago I got a heavy duty sewing machine so now I mostly use free motion machine embroidery. Finally I sew layers of a very thin Japanese paper tape to finish the edges and give the piece a border.

How do you describe your work?

I make photographic tapestries. My art is about nature, in particular trees. I read an article about the Olympic National Forest in Washington State and in 2018 I visited the Hoh Rainforest and took photos of the trees and water. It’s one of the quietest places in the world and I fell in love with it. 

I also photographed walls from an old military bunker in Fort Worden. The walls looked like paintings as parts of the areas were covered in mould and rust. I returned last year and took more photos.  

After university I was an archaeological photographer and travelled to Pakistan from January to April for three years. I like to think that my work is creating artefacts of tomorrow.

Your photographs are so beautiful why do you add thread to them?

I feel compelled to do it. Thread adds a different element and totally changes the images into something more dimensional and sometimes sculptural. I use all different kinds of threads but mostly metallics. I especially like turquoises, deep greens, reds and multicoloured thread with pinks. Also the threads blur the line between what’s real in the photograph and what’s beyond or imagined in the past. When I started sewing the forest pictures with gold threads, it made me think of fairy tales and what happens in the forest when no humans are present.

How long does a piece roughly take?

It really depends. I work on more than one piece at a time so it can take months to fully complete one.

What is your career highlight to date?

It is having my solo show of recent work at the Lois Lambert Gallery in Los Angeles last year. 

What advice can you give to aspiring textile artists?

I would say, be open, don’t dismiss anything that captures your imagination and try new materials. For example artist El Anatsui from Ghana uses discarded liquor bottle wrappers to create fantastically stunning, room size textile sculptures. 

My mentor,  artist Tom Wudl  says “(…in art) Do exactly what you feel like doing. Even though you may not know what you’re doing, while you’re doing it you know who you are.” 

https://www.charlotteschmid-maybach.com

https://www.instagram.com/clsmstudio