SOOI ARTS

Sooi’s form of embroidered portraits are realistic silk thread paintings of the subject in immaculate detail, each portrait is put together stitch by stitch and layer by layer all by hand, this art form is very unforgiving - it is slow to execute and leaves no room for error

Connoisseurs of art will recognise these as timeliness heirloom pieces to pass on from generation to generation, or one of a kind keepsake, it is meant to be the ultimate way of celebrating a great personality!

This work depicts a young girl in an ambient garden. Detailing in the carvings of the marble pillar, the print of the cuff and collar have been meticulously expressed in embroidery. The foliage has been worked in cotton while the remaining in silk thread.

The chosen colour palette is a mix of blues and greens with an array of pastels for marble and skin.
(This was created for my daughter’s 21st birthday)

Belle

Belle (Detail)

Bejewelled Lady (Detail)

This piece shows a doe-eyed young woman in traditional Indian finery. Play of light and shadows on the contours of the face, along the hair and in the folds of the sari add requisite depth

The bright colour tones of saffron, gold and green have been balanced by the subtle browns.

Bejewelled Lady

The subject is an 80 year-old woman in her reading glasses. The transparency of reading glasses and grey tones of the hair in embroidery showcases how ageing comes with its own grace

The greys in skin tones have been offset by a deep blue and aqua green background.

Grace

Grace (Detail)

The Gaze (Detail)

Depiction of a young woman adorning a traditional headscarf. The play of shadows on fabric folds and the face while bringing out the evocative expression in her gaze

Interesting study using primarily a palette of browns broken by touches of primaries like blue, yellow and orange.

The Gaze

Portraying still life in the form of a fruit past its prime. Decay in the leaves and the changing colours of a ripening fruit have been portrayed true to form. Incorporation of a whorl in the body of the pear was an added twist

A coming together of pure earth tones depicted in the yellow browns of an over ripened fruit and the muddy greens of a decaying leaf.

Ageing Pear

Ageing Pear (Detail)

Flora and Fauna (Detail)

Showcasing the natural engagement of honeybees with their foxglove friends. Foxglove petals worked in 3D, the speckled centers of the flower and the paintwork of the blue fence have been brought out in detailed stitchery.

Delicately balanced work pitting the lively pinks of the foxglove against the peeling blue paint of the fence.

Flora and Fauna

Inspired by an 18th century Meiji era embroidery tapestry of white egrets perched on climbing wisteria wines.

The fine needle work is rendered in a palette of pastel and earth tones in soft contrast to the grey brown of the tree bark.

Egrets and Wisteria

Egrets and Wisteria (Detail)

A great deal of planning goes into the construction of each portrait. From a simple sketch to a complex portrait where thousands and thousands of stitches have been worked one by one

Choosing the right colors from a library of hundreds of spools collected from around the world, and meticulous blending of each strand is key to the making of this an intriguing piece of art.